


Game On

by Myllee



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, E-Sports, F/M, Gaming, Gen, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:29:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 46,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myllee/pseuds/Myllee
Summary: Daenerys"DragonQueen"Targaryen snapped her headset on and plopped herself down on her chair.Her fingers tapped at the keyboard, starting her favorite playlist.A slide of her chair forward brought her mouth closer to the mic, "Hi guys, nice to see you all again," she greeted, smiling into the webcam mounted by her screen, "Are you ready?"
Relationships: Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen
Comments: 386
Kudos: 443





	1. Are you ready?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> So this is the thing I mentioned I'll be working on next. And it's a multi-chapter. Yey?  
> If you've read the tags, you know this work centers around gaming and e-sports (but it's also quite a classic Jonerys, I'll try not to bore you with too much gaming :P). Have no clue wth I'm talking about? That's fine! there will be some exposition and explanations within the story itself. But, as always, if you have questions, feel free to ask.
> 
> The "Now playing" links refer to the song the streamer is currently playing on stream. So if you feel like it, snap your own headset on and get into the groove along with their viewers ;)

  


_  
_

> __
> 
> __
> 
> **ChatBot: DragonQueen stream is going LIVE in 5 minutes...**
> 
> mrcactus: good morning everyone!
> 
> theAvalanche: its like 10pm lol
> 
> mrcactus: not where i am 😁
> 
> pillowfight11: y arent you at work?
> 
> mrcactus: im a student lol no morning class today
> 
> **ChatBot: DragonQueen stream is going LIVE in 4 minutes...**
> 
> hades137: what is she playing today
> 
> crowbird: Dragonrider ofc, r u new here?
> 
> hades137: no but she said she'll play some adventure game this week or smth
> 
> jigsawgirl: she said Friday
> 
> hades137: oh ok ty
> 
> mekkatorque: HELLO
> 
> mrcactus: what adventure game?
> 
> jigsawgirl: she didn't say
> 
> **ChatBot: DragonQueen stream is going LIVE in 3 minutes...**
> 
> inurfaceu: r we gonna see some tits today
> 
> **ModBot: <inurfaceu> has been banned**
> 
> jigsawgirl: what an arse
> 
> mekkatorque: HELLO HELLO HELLO
> 
> mrcactus: shut up
> 
> **ChatBot: DragonQueen stream is going LIVE in 2 minutes...**
> 
> sadblueberriez: i need a hug 😭
> 
> hades137: whats wrong @sadblueberriez?
> 
> sadblueberriez: i failed one of my classes 😭😭😭
> 
> hades137: that sucks man
> 
> mrcactus: watch the stream it will make u feel better
> 
> crowbird: tru dat
> 
> **ChatBot: DragonQueen stream is going LIVE in 1 minutes...**
> 
> theAvalanche: omg its almost time
> 
> mekkatorque: STREAM HYPE
> 
> pillowfight11: lets pwn some newbs today
> 
> mekkatorque: HYPE HYPE HYPE
> 
> **ChatBot: DragonQueen stream is LIVE**

  


Daenerys _"DragonQueen"_ Targaryen snapped her headset on and plopped herself down on her chair.

Her fingers tapped at the keyboard, starting her favorite playlist.

A slide of her chair forward brought her mouth closer to the mic, "Hi guys, nice to see you all again," she greeted, smiling into the webcam mounted by her screen, "Are you ready?"

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**_< <Now playing: [Two Steps From Hell - Dragon Rider](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKv_wua6kFE)>>_ **

Dany rolled her shoulders, stretching more comfortably on her plush gaming chair. It was brand new, granted to her by one of her sponsors, a vastly superior model to the one she'd been using before. 

The only thing she disliked about it was the fact it was hot pink. For some reason, many people assumed girl gamers wanted their entire rig to have a ghastly pink color. That shit hurt her eyes if she looked at it for too long. Personally, she preferred black and red, but gift horse and all... she wasn't complaining. A gaming chair of this model cost about 2000 gold dragons, so she was glad to get hers for free.

One hand on the keyboard, the other on the mouse, Dany fired up the game and opened the hero selection screen. After a short consideration, she settled on Melisandre, one of her favorite heroes. Once selected, she queued into her first match of the evening, feeling a rush of adrenaline flooding her bloodstream.

She greeted her randomly-matched team through the in-game chat.

_DragonQueen: Hi all_

_itsthehorse: yo_

_ineedcoffee: whatup_

The other two players didn't bother answering. Some players tended to lack social skills, which was not unusual when it came to gaming. Or they didn't speak Westerosi.

Dany had been a professional gamer for a few years now, after dropping out of university. After only one year of studies, she realized business school was just not for her, the only reason she ever signed up being to appease her parents anyway. They weren't happy when she quit and announced she was going to pursue e-sports as a career, but there wasn't anything they could do about it.

After enduring many lectures about her future and about "making smart life choices", Dany was eventually left blissfully in peace. Her parents seemed to realize that she had chosen her way and there was no convincing her otherwise. The fact that she also managed to pay all her bills by herself and even save some money was contributing to the tentative truce she now had with them regarding her career of choice.

The on-screen countdown timer hit 0:00 and the match commenced. Everyone leaped forward, racing towards the center of the map, where they were most likely to encounter enemy players. Dany raced ahead. She was the first to spot the enemy team and the one to get the first kill earning her the 'First Blood' bonus to her stats. She also managed to swiftly locate some precious resources, earning her entire team a temporary speed boost.

__

> __
> 
> _jigsawgirl: first blood, fuck yeah_
> 
> _hades137: awesome_
> 
> _wigglewiggleyeah: i luv you DragonQueen 😍_
> 
> _mekkatorque: YEAHHHH_
> 
> _1renok1: @DragonQueen how do u get that buff?_
> 
> __

Dany glanced at her second screen, making sure to keep track of the chat even while playing, "You get the buff by getting the first kill in the match," she explained, eyes still fixed on the happenings in-game, "it gives you a temporary stat boost. It can be very helpful in tipping the odds in your favor early in the match."

Rather than just playing the game, Dany tended to explain what she was doing to her viewers, giving tips and tricks on how to get better at the game. This was one of the reasons her stream was so popular.

Dany's game of choice, Dragonrider, was a multiplayer online battle arena video game. The game consisted of short matches. One would pick a hero from a wide selection of characters with different abilities and get randomly matched with four other players as teammates. Together they would collaborate in order to defeat the other 5-player group that was randomly matched against them.

The game also included the option to form a ready-made group, making it easy to play with friends. But Dany, being an online streamer, usually queued by herself. Her rating, which was currently proudly set on GOLD, was going to rise to the highest one, platinum, by the end of the month when all ratings were reset back to the default. She always reached the highest rating every month. Superb stats meant better viewership for her stream and, as a result, more money from sponsorships and ads.

Dany's fingers deftly flew over the keyboard, her other hand expertly handling the mouse. The controllers almost felt like an extension of her arms by now. She had been playing Dragonrider nearly every day for years now, she had become pretty skilled at it. Skilled enough to get invited to several tournaments over the last few years and win some enviable cash rewards.

Her favorite hero was Khaleesi, a fierce warrior type hero who harnessed the power of the elements to reign down destruction upon her enemies. But she was very adept at a wide range of characters. It was essential, practically required, for some of the special game modes and also to keeping her stream from becoming stale and repetitive.

At the moment she was playing Melisandre, a fire mage. She was shooting great fireballs from her palms, incinerating enemies left, right and center.

She frowned at one of the randomly matched teammates, noticing him running around the back, hacking at plants. Her fingers quickly typed at the keyboard, typing a message in the in-game match chatroom.

_DragonQueen: @itsthehorse wtf are you doing?_

_itsthehorse: nothing we seem to have this in the bag_

_DragonQueen: No thanks to you_

_ineedcoffee: @itsthehorse u arse, ur not doing anything_

_itsthehorse: who cares lol_

Dany rolled her eyes, annoyed but not surprised. In this level of play, most players were serious about it, most of them cared about their rating and did anything in their power to win a match. But every once in a while there was some arsehole who was content to hang back and let the rest of the group carry them. It was inevitable, especially in her skill-level. Sometimes, the match would be won by virtue of her skill alone, the rest of the team having minimal effect on the result. This inevitably led to some players becoming lazy.

She slid her eyes back to her stream chat, faintly smiling at the response of her viewers.

__

> _mrcactus: what an arse_
> 
> _straberryfieldz12: fireball his face_
> 
> _pillowfight11: who cares she's winning_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: don't encourage the lazy shits_
> 
> _tandy_123: what happened, I just got here 😭_
> 
> _mekkatorque: HYPE HYPE HYPE_
> 
> _toughluckbob: can u type anything other than caps?_
> 
> _mekkatorque: NOPE_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: @tandy_123 some arse letting the rest of them carry_
> 
> _crowbird: figures_
> 
> _tandy_123: ah ok thanks @jigsawgirl_
> 
> __

Dany shrugged at the webcam, "Nevermind, guys," she said, "we're almost done anyway."

She finished the match, her group winning it as predicted. She pulled off her headset, "I'm gonna take a 5-minute break," she announced into the mic, "see you in a bit."

After silencing her mic, she climbed out of her chair, heading to the kitchen for a drink. She opened the fridge and pulled out one of the bottles of energy drinks that always filled the entire bottom shelf, which she made sure to always keep fully stocked. 

Her usual streaming time was during the night, so she needed her fuel. She traditionally got more viewers when streaming late evenings and nights. It made sense, most people had to work or study during the day and had no time for stream-watching.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had skipped dinner. Dany opened the fridge again and wrinkled her nose when she found the only food it contained was a can of pickles and a carton of milk that expired three weeks before.

 _Takeout it is_.

She traced her finger over the various menus stuck to the fridge by an assortment of differently-shaped magnets.

Glancing at her watch, she saw her five minutes were almost up. And the viewers tended to get petulant and bitchy if she took longer than she promised. _Just one more match,_ she thought, _and then food._

About half-way into her next match, she heard a light knock on her door and groaned inwardly. Her roommate should know better than to bother her while streaming, she had told him off countless times but he never fucking learned. She muted her mic and pulled her headset down to rest around her neck.

"What is it?" she called out.

The door opened and the head of Daario, her roommate, peeked inside. He'd had a crush on her for ages, she knew that. She kept gently trying to tell him she did not feel the same and that she just wanted to remain friends. Or just roommates, that would be even better. But he seemed to still harbor some hope that she would eventually change her mind. It was exhausting to no end.

"Hey," he smiled at her.

She raised her eyebrows, "I'm streaming. What's up?" She kept one eye on the screen, still playing. One couldn't _pause_ a multiplayer online game, Daario knew that perfectly well.

"I was gonna order some Mireenese, want me to order you something?" he asked, stepping further into the room, leaning against her desk.

Dany bit her lip. She was loath to encourage him, especially after she told him multiple times that she didn't like to be bothered while streaming. But she was going to order takeout anyhow and it made no sense to make two separate calls to the same address.

"Yeah, fine, thanks," she said abruptly, "I just need to finish this."

He smiled, "Sure thing, Dany, anything." He hung around for a few more seconds until she pointedly pulled up her headset again and unmuted her mic, "Sorry about that guys, just getting some late dinner. Now, where were we?"

She heard the door close and turned her full attention back to the match.

Approximately 40 minutes later, there was a knock on her door again. Fortunately, her current match had just concluded.

"Ok, guys, going to have dinner now, I'll be back in 20 or so," she informed her viewers, "I'm going to leave my playlist on, see you in a bit."

She dropped her headset by the keyboard (RavenWare 3000 mechanical keyboard, one of the best and most expensive gaming keyboards out there) and made her way out of the room. She usually ate by her PC, chatting with her viewers in the stream chatroom. But she knew that Daario would bitch and moan about him ordering her food and her not eating with him and she didn't feel like dealing with that tonight.

So she made her way to the kitchen, where Daario already pulled plates and cutlery from the cupboard. She never saw the point of that, usually preferring to eat right out of the containers, but she refrained from saying anything as she sat.

"I asked for extra sauce, just the way you like it," Daario smiled, pointing at the small clear plastic containers next to the food boxes.

"Thanks," she murmured, pulling one box in front of her and pulling out a glazed piece of lamb.

"So how's it going with the matches tonight?" he asked while emptying a container into his own plate and sticking his fork into it.

"It's fine," she shrugged, "I'm near platinum already, shouldn't be long now."

"Great, great..." he nodded, tapping his fork thoughtfully on his plate. Dany wished he wouldn't.

"Are you streaming tomorrow?" he asked.

Dany pursed her lips. As if he didn't know her streaming schedule by heart by now, "Around 23:00 or so, as usual," she mumbled, reaching for the rice.

"Yeah, good good," he said, his eyes fixed solely on her. She was trying her best to keep her eyes on the food and away from him. Dread was rising in her stomach.

"So, uh, would you like to go out to dinner before?" he asked, his hand coming to rest uncomfortably close to hers on the table, "So you don't have to eat in the middle of the night again?"

Dany bit her tongue, trying to hold back the angry retort that was on the tip of her tongue. One of the major advantages of steaming late at night was that Daario was usually going to bed around the time she started streaming, which meant he couldn't bother her. But he would stay up late during the weekends, she suspected specifically so he could spend more time with her.

She was tired. So tired of this. She had hinted gently countless times and nothing worked. When would he get into his thick skull that she was not. FUCKING. Interested??

She had tried to be nice, tried to keep the peace because she needed to be on good terms with her roommate, but it was driving her mental.

His hand suddenly grasped hers and her head shot up, glaring at him.

"Dany," he said, his tone serious, "I think we should spend more time together," he took a deep breath as if he was preparing to deliver an important speech, "we've been living together for a year now and I think we should get to know each other better, you know you're very dear to me and-"

Dany shook off his hand angrily and sprung up from her seat, "We haven't been 'living together', Daario," she said, disgusted and fed up, "we're roommates. We share a bathroom and the fucking utility bills, that's it."

His face darkened angrily and he got up too, "There's no need to speak to me like that," he admonished as if she was a petulant child, "I'm merely trying to-"

"I KNOW what you're trying to do," Dany interrupted, anger flaming red-hot in her stomach, "and it's not fucking working. I'm NOT interested, don't you get that?"

Her appetite gone, she pushed her plate away, "I'm going back to stream now, do not bother me again."

Not waiting for a response, she strode back into her room and closed the door, locking it behind her. She leaned against the locked door, trying to calm her breathing. She glanced at her watch. Nearly midnight. Her best friend should still be up.

She grabbed her cellphone from its charging station on her desk and dialed. Margaery answered almost right away.

"Shouldn't you be streaming, DragonQueen?" her friend's familiar voice trickled through the device.

"I should," Dany sighed, sliding down the door to sit on the floor, "took a break. Daario is driving me FUCKING crazy."

Marg huffed, "That arse again, remind me why you're not screaming at him to leave you the fuck alone?"

Dany groaned, "Because I still have to LIVE with him, I can't muddy the waters." Although, she suspected she already had. Daario didn't seem like the guy to take rejection good-naturedly. He had been pretending to be oblivious to her attempts to let him off gently for a long time now after all.

"Tell you what," Marg said resolutely, "meet me for drinks tomorrow evening and you can bitch about him all you want."

"Deal," Dany sighed, glancing at the blinking lights on her PC, "anyway, I better get back to work."

"See you tomorrow."

Dany placed her phone back on the desk and slid back into her chair, sliding the headset back on and unmuting the mic.

"Ok guys," she said, feeling adrenaline oozing back into her tired body, "Let's kick some ass."

Hours later, Dany bid her viewers a good night (or morning, as it was nearing 4AM) and turned off her camera, switching the stream and PC off. She reveled in the silence for a moment, after spending most of the last few hours with her ears covered and music playing in the background.

She made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth. To her relief, the apartment was silent, indicating that Daario had already gone to bed.

Once she was done pulling on her Pjs, she felt suddenly and overwhelmingly exhausted. She switched the lights off in her room and crawled into bed, staring at the shafts of moonlight which filtered through her window until she fell asleep.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


He felt his heart beating madly against his ribs as his team converged on the goal, their prize within reach. He could almost taste it, victory was just at his fingertips, all he had to do was reach his hand and grab it.

"Edd, to your left," he instructed through the microphone attached to the headset secured around his ears. It was the noise-canceling variety, he could hear nothing but his fellow teammates and the sounds effects coming from the game itself, "he's stealthed, don't let him take you by surprise."

_Almost there..._

"Ok, guys, get ready," he commanded, his fingers a blur as they flew over the keyboard and mouse, expertly navigating his character, getting yet another kill, "we're moving in on my count, use your ultimates together, in 3, 2, 1..." He mashed his button just as he finished the countdown, noting the other characters, controlled by his teammates doing the same.

The match ended in a blaze a second later, the enemy team defeated.

Jon _"WhiteWolf"_ Snow wrenched off his headset, getting up from his seat, raising his arms in triumph. His teammates did the same, springing up from their seats, laughing in elation.

All around them, the crowd went wild, screaming and waving signs and banners. Most of the banners featured the name of their eSports team, "The Night's Watch", although some of them had the names of individual players. It never ceased to cause Jon to feel amazed and humbled to see his own name splashed across signs at the hands of countless fans, to hear it chanted by the audience.

He had been the captain of The Night's Watch team for the last two years after their former captain had retired from professional gaming. The team had made quite significant progress under his leadership, making them prominent contenders in the eSports scene. He was very proud of each and every one of them.

They were one of the countless professional teams across the world playing Dragonrider competitively and were currently one of the highest-ranking teams in Westeros. Granted, this was only a local tournament and the cash reward was pretty humble, but winning meant a boost of cashflow and sponsorships to all of them. They all waved at the crowd, grinning sheepishly.

They turned to the opposing team's players, shaking their hands politely.

Within minutes, once the applause had died down somewhat, the show host, Oberyn "Red Viper" Martell, came forward, brandishing a mic. Jon stepped forward. As the team captain, he was usually the one at the forefront, doing most of the interviews.

Oberyn turned to the crowd first, "We are here with Jon 'WhiteWolf' Snow, captain of The Night's Watch, the team that had just won the Dragonrider Mythic tournament." He paused to allow the crowd to scream some more.

He then turned to Jon, "So, WhiteWolf, now does it feel to be tonight's winners?" He thrust the mic under Jon's nose.

Jon plastered a confident smile on his face, looking straight into Oberyn's eyes, "It feels amazing. All our hard work, so many days, weeks, and months of practicing, all of it was worth it to get to this moment." His teammates nodded around him in agreement.

"Is there anything you'd like to say to all the people who came here to support and cheer for you?" Oberyn swept his hand in the direction of the crowd, raising his voice as the excited screaming rose in volume again.

"Of course," Jon turned to look at the crowd, heart thudding a bit at the palpable excitement in the air, the bright glare of the lights overhead, "I want to thank all of you for coming here to support us, it means a lot. Keep supporting e-sports guys, we are grateful you all." He raised his arms, fingers forming "V" shapes, towards the excited crowd. His teammates cheered and hugged around him as the crowd roared its approval.

A few minutes later, the interview concluded and they were ushered off the stage. Jon wiped his sweaty forehead, looking around for their team manager, Davos Seaworth. He spotted the man walking towards them, a proud smile on his face, holding an armful of water bottles. The team crowded around him, each gratefully taking a bottle and hastily gulping the cool drink down.

"Excellent work, lads," said Davos, clapping all of them on their shoulders, his face beaming, "I knew you could do it."

Jon grinned, looking around at his teammates. There were happy smiles all around and an electric kind of elation in the air. Winning sure felt good. He could get used to this.

Davos pulled out his mobile and waved it at them, "Already got a call from RavenWare, they might be interested in offering you a sponsorship."

Everybody exclaimed in surprise and excitement. "Fuck, that's amazing," said Edd in awe, "they practically shit money."

"Something like that," grinned Davos. He put his phone back in his jacket pocket and gestured them to follow him, "Come, we have that fan meet 'n greet now."

Jon groaned, "Fuck. Do I have to?"

"Yep!" said Davos, not bothering to look back at him. Jon supposed Davos was used to his antics by now. He tended to get most of the attention in the fan meetups, especially from the female fans. 

He had made the fatal mistake of sleeping with a fan once, after another tournament win. He was still smarting from the whole ordeal with Ygritte then and he had a few too many drinks at the after-party. She'd been heavily flirting with him and she was cute and he thought _why the hells not_. He had only meant for it to be a one-time thing, but the girl clearly did not see it that way. That whole episode ended up in constant phonecalls, increasingly crazed text messages at all hours of the day and night and, eventually, a restraining order. Since then, Jon kept a polite but firm distance from all the fans.

The rest of the team was constantly teasing him about it.

"Poor little WhiteWolf," said Grenn in a mock-pitying tone, "bringing all the fangirls to the virtual yard. Where did that redhead ask you to put your autograph last time? On her shirt, was it?"

"I think it was directly on her tits," piped up Pyp from behind them and the rest of the team burst out in laughter.

Jon rolled his eyes, "Oh, fuck off," he sighed in resignation, "Let's get this over with."

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Dany climbed out of her bed, yawning widely. She glanced at the clock. 12:15. She hoped Daario had something to do this weekend and wouldn't be home. After brushing her teeth, she dragged herself to the kitchen for a much-needed cup of coffee.

She suppressed an irritated groan to see Daario hanging out in the kitchen, his head buried in a newspaper. He looked up when she stepped into the kitchen.

"Good morning," he said, folding the paper and laying it on the table in front of him, fixing his gaze at her.

Dany mumbled a response. She was just about to go straight back to her room when Darrio said, "Can we talk for a minute?"

Dany tried to avoid rolling her eyes as she took a seat by the kitchen table, burying her nose in her coffee cup.

"What's up?" she asked disinterestedly.

Daario leaned closer, "I think we should talk about last night," he said in a serious tone, "we both said things we didn't mean and I don't want us to fight." 

He leaned back with a sigh, "I really don't want anything to get in the way of our friendship and I know that you were probably just speaking out of anger, but I was hoping that maybe we can straighten things out. Perhaps over lunch?"

Dany had no energy to deal with him. She was so fucking tired of repeating herself like a broken record. She got up from the table, "I have plans," she said cooly, ignoring Daario's scowl, "and I was just about to go out for a run." She really wasn't, but she couldn't stand staying there and listening to him. So she just made her way back to her room and changed into a pair of tights and a tank top. 

She really needed to vent. Drinks with Marg could NOT come soon enough.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Dany's lips automatically curved into a smile when Margaery Tyrell, her very best friend, stepped into the pub. Marg waved at her, slipping a pair of sparkly designer sunglasses off her nose. Dany giggled, sunglasses in the evening were so typically _Marg_.

It was a part of Marg's entire persona. The designer clothes, the sky-high stilettos, the heavy make-up. Dany was certain that about 90% of it was just out of boredom.

Marg's family was extremely well-off. So much so that Marg and her brother Loras were living in a luxury apartment in one of the poshest parts of King's Landing. Marg also cultivated an impressive collection of clothes and jewelry in a closet bigger than Dany's entire apartment. She was a part-time student in KLU, studying business, which is how Dany came to know her. They had initially bonded over their mutual appreciation of video games. 

Dany had found out that Marg, far from being as shallow and air-headed as a lot of people assumed she was, was actually one of the sharpest people she had ever met. And a fierce and loyal friend.

Marg swopped in on her when she arrived at the counter, hugging her tight, "Hey there, DragonQueen, how are you doing?"

Dany laughed, returning the hug, "Better now."

Marg raised her hand to signal to the bartender, ordering drinks. Once they had arrived, she raised the glass and fixed Dany with a sharp look, "Come on," she commanded, "lay it on me."

Dany then spent the next fifteen or so minutes complaining about her roommate.

Marg shook her head and snorted, "You need to find a new place," she declared resolutely.

Dany sighed. She _had_ been wanting to do that for a while, she just never found the time and energy to actually start looking. Marg shook her head when Dany explained this.

"Nonsense," she said brusquely, "let's do it, let's start looking tonight." She pulled out her iPhone and quickly started typing, opening the website for apartment rentals in KL.

She started browsing through the ads, bookmarking some good options. She then turned the screen to Dany, who leaned close, scanning the different listings.

Dany pointed at one of them, "One of the guys there smokes, that's a hard NO." She detested the smell of cigarettes. It never failed to make her want to vomit.

"Alright, let's skip that one," Marg's red-nailed finger removed the ad from the list.

"This one has insane rent, I can't afford this."

"Ok, gone."

"And this one is really far from the city center, it would take over an hour, two busses and a train to get to downtown."

"Good point."

That left them with four options.

"Ok, good," said Marg exuberantly, her fingers already clicking around, sending messages, "I'll ask if we can go see them tomorrow, we can make a day of it."

Dany groaned, "I haven't even decided if I'm ready to move out yet, Marg."

"Oh, trust me, honey, you've been ready months ago," said Marg, not even raising her head from the screen.

Dany couldn't disagree with that, so she busied herself with emptying her glass. She felt a surge of optimism, swept by Marg's enthusiasm. She could do this. Maybe take a few days off from streaming and find a nicer place to live, away from Daario and his stifling presence.

With that thought in mind, she raised her hand to get another round of drinks for herself and Marg.

They clinked their glasses together, "To getting rid of shitty roommates," announced Marg, laughing.

"I'll drink to that!" Dany declared enthusiastically, downing her drink.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


The next morning, Dany hopped out of bed at 9:00 sharp. Daario was fortunately not there, having already left for work.

After a hasty cup of coffee, Dany dressed with a particular care. She decided on plain blue jeans and a white t-shirt. She fixed a pair of tiny dragon earrings to her ears and brushed her hair, leaving it flowing freely over her shoulders. She kept her makeup light, hoping to appear mature and responsible. The best image to project to people who might rent her a room.

Soon after, she stepped out of her apartment building and into Marg's waiting car. She greeted her friend and perched her sunglasses on her nose, squinting in the bright morning light. Marg's luxury car left the curb in a screech of tires, heading towards the first apartment on the list.

Not twenty minutes later, they had arrived at the first address. Marg parked the car by the curb and they both hopped out, heading towards the tall building.

"Pretty nice," remarked Marg, eyeing the dark wood paneling and the muted neutral colors of the cavernous entrance hall. They took the lift up to the third floor and knocked on the door. A moment later, the door opened, an older man stood in the doorway.

"So you're the ones who messaged yesterday," he said, giving them a friendly smile, "Jorah Mormont, nice to meet you, please, come in."

He ushered them inside, directing them to sit on the plush sofa in a large living room. He offered them something to drink, which they declined.

"So which one of you is interested in my spare room?" he asked, seating himself on an armchair across from them.

"That would be me," said Dany.

The man nodded, fixing his stare on her, "And what do you do for a living, young lady?"

"I'm... I'm an online streamer," said Dany, smoothing her hair back nervously. Older folks never understood what it is she was doing and how it was profitable enough for her to be able to pay the rent, "I play games online in for a live audience. I do my work mostly late evenings and nights, by my computer," she said quickly, before he had the chance to ask her what the hells an online streamer does, "I don't make too much noise, I promise."

The man nodded thoughtfully, his gaze still eerily fixed on Dany.

"And I'm more than capable of paying the rent that was mentioned in the ad," she added.

The man smiled, "I'm glad to hear it." He got up from his seat and inviting Dany and Marg to do the same. He led them down a wide hallway to a large and spacious room.

He pointed inside, "This is the room, as you can see it's quite large, I trust it will be suitable for your needs?" While talking, he placed a large hand on Dany's shoulder. Dany tried her best not to squirm uncomfortably. She didn't like being touched by strangers.

"Your hair color is remarkable," he remarked at Dany, his hand still on her shoulder, "Valyrian roots?"

"Umm, yes," Dany mumbled, raising her hand to nervously toy with her hair, moving away from him slightly.

Marg watched the exchange with narrowed eyes, "Mr. Mormont," she interrupted him, "is there a Mrs. Mormont?"

The man looked startled at the question, "Uh.. no, unfortunately not."

"I see," Marg said sweetly, "Might I trouble you for some water?"

"Oh, yes, of course," he said, wrenching his gaze away from Dany, "I'll be back in just a moment." He turned to walk down the hallway, disappearing into the kitchen.

Marg grabbed Dany's arm once he was out of earshot, "There's no way in hells you're staying with that creep," she said firmly, "he was practically drooling over you," she shuddered, "gross. He's like a thousand years old."

Dany agreed, still feeling the imprint of his hand on her shoulder. They quickly made their way back towards the living room just as Jorah emerged from the kitchen, clutching a glass of water. He stared at them in surprise, "Are you girls leaving?"

"I'm afraid so," said Marg, slipping her sunglasses back on her eyes, "We have a few more places to check, we'll let you know." She then grabbed Dany's hand and dragged her out the door.

They hurried back into the car.

"Well, that's strike one," said Dany with a grimace.

"Chin up, DragonQueen," said Marg confidently, starting the car and merging into the traffic, "I'm sure we'll find something good already today."

Dany sighed, wishing she could share Marg's confidence. That episode reminded her why she'd been dragging her feet in looking for a new apartment in the first place.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


The next apartment they visited was inhabited by two girls, college students. A slim dark-haired one opened the door with a wide smile, "You're here about the extra room, right?" she stepped back, letting them pass, "Please, come on it."

She had introduced herself as Jeyne. The second roommate, Alys, had emerged out of her own room long enough just to wave at them, wearing a short sparkly dress and a wide smile as well.

"Our previous roommate graduated and left just a few weeks ago," explained Jeyne as she led them down a short hallway and towards a small room at the end, "we were so sad about it, she was like our bestie," she had pouted, opening the door wide open.

Dany poked her head inside, looking around. The room was partially furnished with a small desk and a dresser. She wrinkled her nose at the walls, which were painted a pale pink. The room was decent enough, gaudy walls notwithstanding.

"We were so psyched when you sent us the message," Jeyne babbled behind her, "we got a few guys who were interested, but we preferred having another girl, to keep the sisterhood, you know? It's like living in a sorority," she gave Dany another bright smile, which Dany hesitantly returned. She was never a sorority kind of girl.

"And we have girl's night every other weekend on Saturdays," she continued on, "we watch movies and drink and have the greatest time, you're gonna love it here," she promised.

Dany bit back a wince. It really didn't sound like her thing, she didn't even know these girls, and Saturday evenings were typically when she got the highest number of viewers watching her stream.

"Dany's usually streaming Saturday nights," Marg rolled her eyes. Dany detected a hint of disdain in her tone and suppressed a smirk. Marg didn't like Jeyne, she could tell just by the tone of her voice, "so she'll probably be too busy for these 'girl's nights'," she had made air quotes with her fingers to punctuate her words.

"I'm sorry, what? Streaming?" Jeyne frowned, clearly confused.

Dany quickly explained about her occupation and that she mostly worked late evenings and into the night.

"Oh," Jeyne's face fell, "I'm sorry, I don't think that'll work for us," she said apologetically, "the walls are like paper-thin," she rapped on the nearest wall as if to demonstrate her point, "and Alys and I are both super light-sleepers, so..."

An awkward silence ensued. Dany eventually broke it, thanking Jeyne for her hospitality and following Marg out of there.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


The next place was a bust as well.

It had a young guy who stared at them with eyes wide-open and had asked three times what she did for a living. Dany was fairly sure he had been high as a kite.

Back inside the car, Dany buried her head in her hands and moaned in frustration.

"This is hopeless," she whined at Marg, "I'm going to be stuck with Daario until I turn into a crazy cat lady."

"You're allergic to cats," Marg reminded her, tapping her long nails on the steering wheel as she directed the car towards their last possibility for the day.

"You know what I mean."

The car stopped by an old but well-kept apartment building. Dany dragged herself out, trying to keep thoughts such as _this is pointless_ out of her head. They went up a short flight of stairs to the first floor. It was unmarked. There was no name, just a doorbell to the left. Marg rang the bell. Dany hung back behind her, trying to feel just a little bit hopeful.

"Just a second," a male voice came from inside. The door opened shortly after. Dany couldn't see the person at the door from her position behind Marg. 

There were a few seconds of silence and suddenly Marg expelled a surprised breath and said "WhiteWolf? Is that you?" 

"SummerRose?" a voice said incredulously.

And Marg laughed, throwing herself into the unknown person's arms. When they finally broke apart, Marg smiling widely, Dany finally stepped forward from behind Marg to get a good look at her potential new roommate.

He was young, probably in his twenties, the same as her. He had pale skin, dark curls, and iron-gray eyes. He looked vaguely familiar. It took Dany just a few seconds to make the connection and her mouth fell open in surprise.

Jon _"WhiteWolf"_ Snow. One of the highest-ranked Dragonrider players in the world. His eyes scanned her curiously before widening suddenly. 

He glanced at Marg, "And you brought the DragonQueen with you."

Dany was pleased but not particularly surprised. She was a high profile popular streamer, most professional Dragonrider players knew her name.

Marg raised an eyebrow, looking from one to the other in mild surprise, "You two know each other?"

"Only by reputation," said Jon, a smile quirking his lips, "so which one of you is looking for a room?"

"That would be DragonQueen here," Marg pushed Dany forward. 

Dany gave Jon a polite smile, which he returned.

"Well, come in then," he said, stepping back to let them in. They stepped into a small but well-lit foyer that opened directly to a spacious living room. There was a large flat-screen mounted on the wall and assorted gaming consoles scattered on the coffee table. The room was messy, but clean.

"Sorry," said Jon sheepishly, "I'm not the best at tidying up."

Marg giggled, "What he actually means is that he's a right slob," she said to Dany with a wink. Jon rolled his eyes in amusement, "Aye, probably."

He had a pleasant voice, deep with a touch of a northern accent to it. Dany remembered he was originally from Winterfell.

"So how do you guys know each other?" asked Dany, glancing questioningly at Marg.

"Oh, I've dated his cousin for ages," explained Marg, going straight into the living room to lounge on the large sofa, "you remember Robb."

"Robb Stark?" Dany blinked, "He's your cousin?"

Jon nodded.

Robb was Marg's mythological ex. They've been dating on and off for years until he moved abroad to study.

"How is Robb nowadays?" asked Marg, now eyeing the assortment of games laying on the tv-bench.

"Good, studying hard," smiled Jon, sticking his hands in his pockets, "So, uh," he turned to Dany, "do you want to see the room?"

"Sure."

Jon led her down a short hallway and into a cozy-looking room. It wasn't huge but it was enough, slightly bigger than her current room. There was a large window overlooking the street and a spacious closet, built into the wall.

"The walls are pretty thick," Jon's voice penetrated her thoughts, he smiled slightly, "which comes in handy when I get a bit too enthusiastic while streaming."

Dany giggled. She could relate. A hopeful bubble blossomed in her chest. Living with a fellow streamer was pretty ideal. He would understand her schedule and wouldn't complain if she made noise at night.

She carefully examined the room. It looked inviting. She could picture herself there with all her stuff. Her bed, her rig, her beloved gaming chair.

"So..." Jon leaned against the wall, fixing his gaze on her, "What do you think?"

Dany smiled slightly, "I think it could work."

"Great," he seemed relieved, "you wouldn't believe what kind of weirdos I had coming here about this place."

Dany raised an eyebrow, "And how do you know I'm not a weirdo?"

Jon chuckled and her skin tingled in response. His voice had an appealing timbre to it, "I suppose I don't, but if you're friends with Marg I'll assume you're not a mad-ax murderer. D'you want to see the rest of the place?" he offered.

Dany replied in the affirmative and he showed her the rest of the flat.

There was a kitchen, old-style but roomy. It had a double fridge and a small coffee machine sitting on the counter. The small bathroom had no shower stall, but a long and narrow bathtub. Dany could definitely picture herself relaxing in a bath after hours of rigorous streaming. Her current apartment, unfortunately, only had a cramped little stall with an often leaky faucet. To her great surprise, there was also a washer/drier standing in the corner, which meant she could save a lot of money and time on washing her clothes.

The rest of the apartment consisted of the living room, which Marg was sitting now in, playing one of Jon's games on the huge flat-screen, and Jon's room. He let her glance inside.

It was nice, a bit larger than the other one. It had a rumpled king-size bed, his rig, all shiny black plastic and blinking lights, a closet, some shelves, and his gaming chair. Dany smiled at it. It was the same model as hers, only it was colored midnight-black. She suppressed a giggle at a life-size replica of _Longclaw_ , one of the legendary weapons from Dragonrider, which was mounted on the wall above Jon's bed. 

They made their way back to the living room. On the giant screen, Marg's race car crashed gloriously into a wall and she swore loudly. She got up when they entered the room, dropping the controller on the sofa.

"So?" she asked with raised eyebrows, hands on her waists, "what's the verdict?"

Dany glanced at Jon, who smiled, "It's hers if she wants it," he said with a tiny shrug.

Marg turned her eyes to Dany, her gaze questioning. Dany smiled at her, "Yeah, I think it can work."

Marg whooped and clapped her hands together excitedly, "Great! Now, let's talk business," she returned her gaze to Jon, "So when can she move in?"

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Whenever she was ready, Jon had said. His previous roommate had moved out weeks ago, so the room was readily available. 

Dany needed to give a two weeks' notice to her landlord and she would be free to move. She smiled to herself as she looked out the window in Marg's car. It felt good, exciting. Like she was about to embark on a new adventure.

"I'm happy for you, honey," Marg's voice penetrated her thoughts and she turned to see Marg smiling at her, "Jon's a good guy, I think you'll get along well together." 

Her expression turned devilish, "Not to mention, he's hot as fuck. A nice eye-candy for you to ogle," she returned her gaze to the road, "or sample, if you're in the mood," she gave Dany a lewd wink and Dany rolled her eyes at her. Fucking her roommate was definitely not on her ToDo list.

"Have you two ever...?" Dany let the question hang there, chewing on her bottom lip. She wasn't sure why, but she was suddenly nervous to hear Marg's answer.

"Me and Jon?" Marg raised an eyebrow, "No, never. He's Robb's cousin, I've been like a sister to him."

Dany released the breath she didn't even realize she was holding, "Oh, ok."

Margaery drove her back to her apartment. Dany entered and made a beeline to her room. Daario was in his own room and didn't bother her for a change. She grabbed a cup of yogurt from the fridge and sat by her PC, grabbing her headset and clicking the stream on.

"Hi guys," she greeted her viewers through the microphone, smiling at the webcam, happy to be in her element again, "ready to kick some arse?"

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're still here? Ok, good!
> 
> Dragonrider is very loosely based on [Heroes of the Storm](https://heroesofthestorm.com) (which, in turn, is sort of a dumbed-down version of League of Legends, which I imagine most people at least heard of). But I've used elements from several different games, so don't expect an accurate depiction of any of them.
> 
> The streaming platform is (not at all loosely) based on [twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/), which is the most popular game streaming website in the world.


	2. Let the Games Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _WhiteWolf: Sooo you told your chat about me, I see :P_
> 
> _DragonQueen: They heard your screaming through the walls, you have only yourself to blame ;)_
> 
> _WhiteWolf: Sorry, was I too loud? Just won a really tough match, I tend to get vocal when I'm excited_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hi,
> 
> This took longer than I intended :( I had a draft a week ago already, but I absolutely HATED it. It felt like a bunch of unrelated scenes and it took me a while to make it feel cohesive.  
> It's improved now, anyway.  
> The good news is that since I was struggling with it so much, I actually started writing some one-shot that somehow sprung into existence and may be posted soon after I finish and polish it a bit.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

The next day when she woke up, Dany laid in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling. She was equal parts excited and nervous about her impending move. It was natural, she supposed, change was never easy. But all in all, she couldn't wait. Her thoughts drifted to her new future roommate.

 _Jon "WhiteWolf" Snow_.

She had seen him in tournaments before, of course, watched him stream a few times in the past, and she had a vague recollection of hearing about some kind of scandal involving him and his ex-girlfriend, but didn't remember the details. She was curious to find more about him, now that they were going to cohabitate.

With that thought in mind, she got up and sat in front of her PC, fingers swiftly typing at her keyboard.

She searched his name, scanning the list of results. The top one was a link to his page on the same streaming platform she used. The next one was the one she was looking for, his Wikipedia page. She clicked the link to open it, her eyes skimming over the short text.

>   
>  **WhiteWolf**
> 
> **Jon Snow** , better known by his online username WhiteWolf, is a Westerosi professional video game player. He is a member of the eSports team _The Night's Watch_ , of which he is currently the captain. He is most known for his achievements in _Dragonrider_. He has also won the "Favorite Dragonrider stream" and "Highest stream view average" _[Citation needed]_ at the eGaming stream awards in 2018.
> 
> His stream mostly features him playing Dragonrider, but he also plays other games from time to time and has been known to also publish videos of himself in real life.
> 
> \-----Contents [hide]------  
>  1 Early life and education  
>  2 Youtube channel  
>  2-1 Early years  
>  2-1 Subscriber growth  
>  ...  
>  3 Professional eSport scene career  
>  3-1 Highgarden tournament  
>  3-1-1 Season 1  
>  3-1-2 Season 2  
>  ...  
>  3-2 King's Landing Dragon-con  
>  ...  
>  4 Public image and influence  
>  4-1 Audience demographics and fanbase  
>  4-2 Personal life and controversy  
>  5 Notes  
>  6 References  
>  7 External Links  
>  ...  
>  \--------------------------  
> 

There was a picture, too. Jon in a tight white t-shirt with the top two buttons unbuttoned, arms crossed over his chest, looking straight into the camera. Dany recognized the picture. It was the one plastered over boxes of GamerCraft's flagship gaming mouse, the MM3000. GamerCraft was The Night's Watch's main sponsor, she recalled.

She had to admit it was a good picture. It gave a nice view of his muscled arms and a glimpse of his pale chest.

Dany bit her lip, opening the image in its full size. Far from the usual nerdy streamer look, he was very good looking, from his dark curls, softly framing his face, to his toned body. _Down, girl,_ she admonished herself silently, _he's gonna be your roommate_. She resolutely clicked the image closed.

Marg was right about the eye-candy part.

The article then continued to list Jon's awards in various tournaments he took part in, solo and as a team member of The Night's Watch. There were a few more tidbits about his emerging career as a professional e-gamer. There was another, somewhat cryptic part at the very end of the article, under the "Personal Life" section.

> Snow's name had been mentioned in an online scandal involving his then-girlfriend and fellow e-gamer Ygritte "Wildgirl" Wilde. During one of her streams, she had publicly accused him of cheating on her with another streamer, describing him as an inherently dishonest and manipulative individual. A short time after, photos of a private nature of his had been leaked to the net, a leak that was attributed to WildGirl (although she had vehemently denied it). Snow did not publicly comment about this incident.

_Interesting._ Maybe he wasn't as good of a guy as Marg described. Although, Dany reminded herself, this just one side of the story. Not that it should matter to her anyway, she was just going to be his roommate. Why should she care about whatever happened with him and his ex-girlfriend?

She was also intrigued about these _photos of a private nature_ of his, which she had taken to mean naked ones (it always seemed to be about nudity). She had successfully talked herself out of trying to look for them. Leaking someone's private photos was a shit thing to do, after all, she didn't care to reward whoever did this by searching for them.

She shut off her computer with a yawn and went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. 

She needed to call her landlord.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Margaery dropped Dany's make-up bag into a large cardboard box, sealing it with tape, "I think that's the last of it," she called out to Dany, who was scouring the corners of the closet to make sure she didn't leave any of her personal belongings behind.

"Great, thanks, Marg," said Dany, closing the closet doors and surveying the small mountain of boxes in her room. She needed a surprisingly large number of them to pack, considering she only had a bedroom and some toiletries to take with her. Her rig took up much more space than she imagined it would. The gaming desk took a particularly long time to dismantle. Loras, Margaery's brother, who had kindly offered to help (and was surely regretting it now), struggled for near 40 minutes with all the screws.

"Remind me, why didn't we just take it as is?" he had asked, panting, the screwdriver dangling from his hand, his shirt sticking to his sweaty back.

"Because it wouldn't have fit in the van with everything else we have to take," Marg reminded him. Dany had rented a van to haul all of her stuff to the new apartment. It was rather small as she didn't have many things to transport, but that ultimately caused headaches to make everything fit inside. 

"C'mon, aren't you girls Tetris professionals or something?"

Four eyes rolled in unison.

Daario was sitting in his room, his door closed. He earlier watched them packing in silence with a scowl on his face. When they just plain ignored him, he eventually stalked into his room, almost slamming the door behind his back. 

He had been angry when she told him she was moving out, trying to guilt her into staying, saying it might take a while to find someone new and he would be in danger of getting evicted.

Dany just rolled her eyes and explained that she gave a two-weeks' notice to the landlord and that this was all was required of her. She owed him nothing.

With everything tightly packed in cardboard boxes, they started heaving them downstairs and into the rented van. They stuffed as many boxes as possible into it and closed the back doors. All three hopped then into the front, with Loras at the driver's seat. They made the short drive to Dany's new apartment.

When Loras parked the van at the curb, Marg whipped out her phone and quickly dialed, "We're here!" she declared, disconnecting the call after a second.

Dany eyed her in confusion, "Who did you call?"

"Reinforcements," Marg winked at her, hopping out of the van. Just a few seconds later, Jon Snow appeared, sliding the building's front door wide open.

"I enlisted him to help," Marg said happily to Dany as Jon grinned and waved at them, "and to ogle while he's carrying boxes around," she muttered to Dany with a sly wink.

Dany rolled her eyes and nudged her shoulder to shut her up.

With Jon's help, they unloaded the boxes from the van. Loras went back to get the last of the boxes from Dany's old apartment by himself while the three of them started lugging boxes up and into Dany's new room. 

Dany stopped behind Jon as he bent over to pick up another box. Dany couldn't help but glance at his ass as he was bent over, wrapping his arms around the box. She covertly admired the view. She heard Marg behind her and hastily moved away to get another box. The last thing she wanted was to suffer through Marg's teasing if she happened to catch her staring at Jon Snow's fine ass.

Loras came back with the rest of the boxes when they were about halfway done with the boxes from the first round. With his help, they made faster progress. 

Finally, all boxes were safely tucked in Dany's new room. Loras collapsed on the living room sofa, panting with the exertion. He gratefully accepted a can of energy drink from Jon, who handed Dany and Marg drinks as well and plopped down next to Loras, swigging his own drink. Jon hardly seemed affected.

Dany and Marg perched themselves on the armchairs next to the sofa with their drinks. They were all sitting in silence for a few minutes, resting and enjoying the cool beverages.

Jon eventually lowered his can from his lips, "So, need any help with putting anything together?" he asked lightly, turning his gaze on Dany.

But it was Loras who answered, "By the gods, PLEASE, help her assemble that monstrosity of a gaming desk. I have aches in muscles I didn't even know I had," he complained, wincing while he flexed an arm.

"Sure," said Jon, chuckling at Loras' exaggerated sigh of relief.

A surprisingly short time later, Dany's gaming desk was assembled and standing in its place at the corner of her new room.

Loras scowled at it slightly as though it had personally insulted him, "How in hells did you assemble it so quickly?" he moaned at Jon.

Jon's lips quirked up in a smile, "Let's just say I know my way around a gaming desk," he said, tapping the screwdriver against his thigh.

Dany tried to ignore the way his biceps flexed as he stretched out his arms. They were quite impressive, especially for a man making his living playing video games.

Marg also seemed to have the same thought, because she giggled and playfully swatted Jon's arm, "Good to know your gym series has done some good," she said teasingly.

Jon rolled his eyes and Dany raised her eyebrow, "His gym-what?"

"Oh, you've never seen his RL stream series?" Marg asked, a sly smile playing on her lips, "it like, tripled the number of his subscribers overnight."

"That's a gross exaggeration," mumbled Jon, running a hand through his hair. Dany could swear his cheeks pinkened a little under the short bristles of his beard.

Loras had then declared he was hungry and they all filed out of the room to order a pizza.

After lunch was concluded, Marg and Loras bade them their goodbyes and went out the door. They had graciously agreed to return the moving van so that Dany could get to unpacking before it got too late.

Dany spent the next few hours unpacking all her things and arranging her clothes in the closet. It was past 21:00 when she finally finished placing every single item exactly where she wanted it. She collapsed on her gaming chair to breathe.

Despite the exhaustion, her fingers were itching to grab the mouse and play. So she fired up her PC and logged into the streaming site.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**_< <Now playing: [K/DA - POP/STARS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOxkGD8qRB4)>>_ **

"Hey there guys," she greeted, "I've officially moved into my new place."

> _  
> _
> 
> _hungrymonkeyboy: gz_
> 
> _sadblueberriez: omg gratz_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: is it nice?_
> 
> _whereami78: gzzzzzz_
> 
> _cookiemonsterrrr: y did u move_
> 
> _mrcactus: dragonrider now?_
> 
> _kakofony444: where did u move_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: like she's gonna tell you.. stalker much?_
> 
> _lot__a__loot: lets play plz_

_  
_

"Yes, we're gonna play," she declared, firing up Dragonrider and grabbing the mouse.

Itching to do something different for a change, instead of a regular match, she queued into a challenge mode. This special game mode posed specific objectives for the team to complete. The team that completed the objectives first would win the match. The objective was selected randomly from a predetermined pool.

The objective of the first match was resource collection. They had to collect 100 units before the opposing team. Dany ran around in a frenzy, stealing resources from right under the nose of opposing team members. When the match ended in a glorious win, she was the one who collected the most resources by far, responsible for 42 of the 100 her team had collected.

She grinned to herself, satisfied, and queued another match.

> __
> 
> _koyyo: this is boring, ur just running around_
> 
> _kakofony444: no its not_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: feel free to stop watching then_
> 
> _lot__a__loot: then get lost dipshit_
> 
> __

Dany wrinkled her nose, "No need for that, guys, but yeah, if you're bored feel free to go watch something else," she said tartly.

So many people thought that games like these were all about running around, randomly shooting spells everywhere. But it was so much more than that. The order in which each of the character's abilities was used to achieve maximum efficiency and synergy, the ability to dodge enemy spells by making smart use of the terrain, exploiting an enemy character's weaknesses in order to gain the advantage and so on. Some had no clue how much skill was actually involved. This was why Dany loved games. She loved delving into the mechanics to the point of being able to play the game so expertly that it looked effortless, even when it was nothing of the sort.

After about an hour of playing, she suddenly heard a noise from inside the apartment. It sounded like Jon yelling, "Fuck, yes!"

She bit her lip, unable to suppress a giggle. She knew the telltale noises of a streamer winning a match. On her second screen, she opened the list for the Dragonrider streams currently online, and sure enough, Jon's name was on the top of that list, having the most viewers. She was actually not far behind him, a close 2nd.

> __
> 
> _sweetcherrypie: wtf was that?_
> 
> _hazbean: is someone having wild sex there_
> 
> _mrcactus: is someone getting murdered_
> 
> _cookiemonsterrrr: monkaS_
> 
> _sadblueberriez: omg who was that?_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: Oo_
> 
> __

Dany smiled, "That's just my new roommate," she explained, "he's also a streamer and I think he's winning."

> __
> 
> _mekkatorque: OMG OMG OMG ANOTHER STREAMER_
> 
> _parzival3513: omg who is it_
> 
> _whereami78: ur roommate is a streamer too?_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: is it someone we know?_
> 
> _toxicfanDR: is he famous?_
> 
> _happiorange: tell ussssss_
> 
> _mrcactus: is it a dragonrider streamer or some other game?_
> 
> _mekkatorque: OMGGGGG_
> 
> __

Dany smirked, "It's WhiteWolf, you guys." She knew she needn't say more.

> __
> 
> _parzival3513: WHITEWOLF OMGGGGGGG_
> 
> _mrcactus: is he ur boyfriend_
> 
> _happiorange: WHITEWOLF!!!!!!_
> 
> _mrriggs: r u gonna have a collab stream?_
> 
> _hades137: omg hes streaming right now_
> 
> _mekkatorque: OMG OMG OMG_
> 
> _valhala18: he's so hot_
> 
> _sweetcherrypie: omg YESS COLLAB plz_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: omg I LOVE him!_
> 
> __

Dany winced. She was starting to think she shouldn't have mentioned Jon was her roommate while he was streaming. Some of the viewers were bound to go to his stream and harass him about it. She hoped he wouldn't mind.

"No, he's not my boyfriend," she clarified to the chat, "just my roommate."

> __
> 
> _happiorange: he should be ur boyfriend, u2 r so hot_
> 
> _fringe132: u should totally bang_
> 
> _**ModBot: <fringe132> has been banned** _
> 
> __

Dany sighed, "Let's just play, you guys," and she started another match.

A few minutes later, her chat icon flashed red, indicating she had a private message from a user she hadn't interacted with before. She finished the current match and curiously opened the note.

_Chatbot: WhiteWolf would like to send you a private message. **A** ccept / **D** ecline_

Dany bit her lip, clicking on _Accept_ and adding WhiteWolf to her friends list, which meant he could send her private messages at any time.

_WhiteWolf: Sooo you told your chat about me, I see :P_

_DragonQueen: They heard your screaming through the walls, you have only yourself to blame ;)_

_WhiteWolf: Sorry, was I too loud? Just won a really tough match, I tend to get vocal when I'm excited_

Dany felt her cheeks flood with color. She chided herself to get her mind out of the gutter and tried to avoid thinking about Jon Snow getting vocal when excited by different activities than the ones he was currently engaging at.

_DragonQueen: Nah, comes with the territory. I knew what I was getting into, moving in with a streamer :)_

_WhiteWolf: Ok, glad to hear, I'll try to keep it down_

_DragonQueen: don't worry about it, just kindly ignore my loud swearing when I lose a match_

_WhiteWolf: Deal :P_

_DragonQueen: And sorry if I set my chat on you, maybe I shouldn't have said anything_

_WhiteWolf: Was bound to come up sooner or later, I can handle it. Anyhow, go kick ass_

_DragonQueen: I plan to_

Relieved, Dany went back to the game, queuing into another match.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**_< <Now playing: [Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbBbFH9fAg)>>_ **

Jon pulled his headset down to rest around his neck, running a hand through his sweaty hair. He had just played a few brutal matches. In all the excitement, he pretty much forgot he was no longer living alone and that his excited screams were bound to be heard through the walls.

At least Daenerys didn't seem to mind. His fingers ran idly over the keyboard, his chat with her still on the screen. His eyes flicked through the lines of text.

_WhiteWolf: Sorry, was I too loud? Just won a really tough match, I tend to get vocal when I'm excited_

Jon's eyes widened in horror. He did NOT just say that, did he? He swept his hand over his face, suppressing a groan. WHY on earth would he say something like that to her? She must've thought he was a first-rate pervert, making lewd comments to her on her very first day in her new apartment. He fervently hoped she hadn't noticed the possible double entendre of his words.

His chat was still all atwitter about her.

> __
> 
> _babycakes: is she really not ur girlfriend?_
> 
> _im_really_ok: u should totally get together, u will win so many games_
> 
> _haiku_moony: she's really hot_
> 
> _sergio_gamer: can we play smth now or what_
> 
> _inurface_new: u should hit that thing_
> 
> _zaxlerr: ya ya_
> 
> _inurface_new: by that i mean u should bang her_
> 
> _**ModBot: <inurface_new> has been banned** _
> 
> __

Jon scowled, "Don't be arseholes, you guys. As I said, she's my roommate, not my girlfriend, anyway," he glanced at the time at the corner of the screen, "I'm gonna take a break, be back in 10 or so."

And he rose from his chair, leaving his headset on the desk. He made sure his mic was muted and made his way out of his room, heading to the kitchen.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Dany yawned and checked the time. She planned to stream for another hour or so but she was feeling so damn sleepy already. She hadn't had the chance to buy any energy drinks yet, but perhaps she could try Jon's coffee machine, give herself the caffeine boost she needed to stay on top of her game.

"I'll be back in a few, you guys, need my caffeine fix," she mumbled into the headset. She got up from her chair and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

The apartment was dark, but there was a faint light coming from the kitchen's open door. She walked inside curiously just to see Jon's behind peeking from behind the open fridge door. Unfortunately, she hadn't had a chance to stare for long, because he straightened right away, giving her a small smile. He must've heard her footsteps.

"Hey," he said, pulling a can of GamerFuel out of the fridge and closing the door, "how's the stream going tonight?"

She thought he looked a bit nervous but brushed the thought away.

She smiled back "It's good, the usual." She went to the coffee machine and started fiddling with the buttons.

She could feel Jon's eyes on her. He was standing there in silence for a moment, a can of drink in hand, and then he commented, "Don't know how you can drink coffee now, it's so fucking warm now."

Dany grimaced, shrugging, "I need to stay awake, and I haven't had a chance to stock up on my usual supply of energy drinks."

"Oh," he said, sounding surprised, "feel free to take as much GamerFuel as you like, the fridge is full of them."

Dany turned to face him, nervously brushing an errant strand away from her face, "I wouldn't want to deplete your stash," she said, giving him a teasing grin, "I know how essential they are for a streamer."

Jon cracked another smile, "GamerFuel is a sponsor of mine, they send me crates of this stuff for free," he shrugged, "provided I drink them while streaming, of course."

"Lucky you," she smiled at him, "well, in that case, toss me one."

Jon re-opened the fridge and tossed her a can. She opened it and took a long swig, already feeling the caffeine coursing through her veins, "Thanks."

"No problem."

They drank together in silence for a few seconds more until Jon mumbled that he should be getting back to it.

"Kick ass, WhiteWolf," she called after his retreating back, her lips curving into a smile.

"You too, DragonQueen," he tossed over his shoulder. She could practically _hear_ him smile. It made a peculiar kind of warmth spread in her chest.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Dany had rather quickly settled into a routine, similar to the one she had before. Sleeping by day, streaming by night, which left her afternoon and early evening free.

Jon usually also streamed at night, which meant their paths often collided. After a few times in which they found themselves having dinner at the same time, they started dining together almost every evening, more often than not ordering takeout.

The first time they did so, Dany suggested they order Yi-Tish.

Jon had wrinkled his nose, "A what now?" he asked, perplexed. 

Dany raised an eyebrow at him, "Have you never had Yi-Tish?" she asked incredulously. She rolled her eyes in disbelief when he shook his head no.

"Well, you're in for a treat, then." She pulled out her phone, quickly loading the site of her favorite Yi-Tish takeout place. Jon peered over her shoulder, trying to get a good look at the menu. 

Dany tried to ignore the pleasant scent of him. He smelled of soap and pine and something else.. warm and spicy. She resisted the urge to bury her nose in his neck and sniff him.

"I have no idea what any of these things are," he declared. He was standing so close that his breath tickled her ear. She felt goosebumps form on her skin.

"Want me to choose for both of us?" she asked, her throat suddenly drier than it was a moment before.

Jon shrugged, lips curving into a smile, "Sure, what the hells, I'd try almost anything at least once."

She grinned, "Ok, then." She quickly browsed through the menu, selecting all her favorites. She concluded the order with a flourish, "It'll be here in 40 minutes or so," she declared happily.

"You better not feed me anything strange, DragonQueen," he said teasingly, "I don't fancy spending the night with my head in the toilet". He sat down on the sofa, stretching his legs out and leaning his head back, arms folded behind it.

Dany scoffed, "Please, an hour from now you'll be getting on your knees and thanking me."

He raised an eyebrow, "On my knees, huh?" he asked, an amused edge to his voice, his eyes twinkling.

She bit her lip, trying to keep her face from reddening, wondering why the hells she sounded like she was flirting with him, and trying to banish the mental image of Jon Snow on his knees from her mind.

The food arrived after 30 minutes or so. Jon went to the door to take it and pay the delivery guy. Before Dany had a chance to get her wallet, the guy had already left.

She approached Jon, who was already unloading the takeout containers on the kitchen counter. The smell was mouth-watering and Dany's stomach rumbled with hunger.

"What do I owe you?" she asked, rummaging through her wallet for cash.

Jon waved a hand, "You can pay next time, besides," he added teasingly, "if it's as good as you said, maybe I should be the one paying you."

Dany grinned, "You'll see."

They both sat at the table, grabbing chopsticks and opening the various containers. They dug in immediately.

After a few minutes and a couple of forkfuls, Jon groaned in appreciation, already devouring his third spring-roll.

"Fuck, this is amazing," he mumbled, cheeks bulging with food. He grabbed the box of sesame noodles and stuck his fork in it, bringing out a generous helping. He did not take to the chopsticks so well.

Dany grinned, waving a piece of orange chicken at him, "Well, I hate to say I told you so..."

"No, you don't."

"You're right. I love it. I told you soooo," she said in a sing-song voice, laughing at his amused eye-roll.

They quickly polished off all of the food, despite the fact that there was quite a lot of it. Jon leaned back in his seat when they were done, looking winded.

"I definitely owe you one, DragonQueen," he declared, "next time I'll introduce you to the best pizza in Westeros."

"Deal," she smiled. They got up, putting the containers in the trash and the dirty dishes in the sink.

Dany glanced at her watch, she felt Jon's eyes on her.

"Stream time?" he asked.

"Yep, gotta go. You?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, in a bit. I need a break."

Dany nodded and headed to her room. She stopped just as she was exiting the kitchen.

She looked back at Jon, who was still sitting by the table.

"Hey, Jon?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for dinner."

He smiled, "You're welcome, Dany."

Dany slipped into her room, fired up Dragonrider, and got to work, thinking that her name sounded really nice when uttered in a deep northern accent.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


"How do you like the new expansion?" enquired Jon a couple of weeks later, over their usual shared dinner. It was burgers this time.

Dany made a "so-so" gesture with her hand, mouth still full of food. Dragonrider had a new expansion that just came out a few days prior, which meant additional playable characters and some new battleground maps.

"It's alright," she shrugged after she had swallowed the bite in her mouth, "I preferred _Shadowlands_ , it was far superior to this one."

"Agreed," Jon said, taking a swig of his soda, "I get so fucking bored playing it and it's only been a few days," he complained.

Dany chewed a fry absently, an idea forming in her mind.

"Do you..." she started hesitantly.

Jon raised an eyebrow, "Do I...?"

"Want to play together for a bit?" she finished, leveling a glance at him, "we can co-stream, might be fun."

Jon nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah... that's a great idea, actually."

Dany grinned, "I have nothing but great ideas."

"Oh please, remember last week's Braavosi stew?"

"Ok, so I had _one_ bad idea."

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**_< <Now playing: [Sia - Unstoppable](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH_oB8E07Xw)>>_ **

> __
> 
> _**ChatBot: DragonQueen stream is LIVE** _
> 
> _alfaalfalfa: hi DragonQueen <3_
> 
> _theAvalanche: Yo yo_
> 
> __

Dany smiled into the webcam, "Good evening, guys, how are you all today?"

> __
> 
> _mrcactus: im great, how r u?_
> 
> _straberryfieldz12: psyched about the new xpac xD_
> 
> _krippo: what hero will you play now?_
> 
> __

"Well, guys, I have a surprise for you today," she smiled. She fired up her Discord, starting a new call with Jon.

"Hi," his voice came out of the headset, the northern lilt pleasant in her ear.

> __
> 
> _jigsawgirl: omfg is that who I think it is?_
> 
> _parzival3513: WhiteWolf eeeeeeeeeeep!_
> 
> _dragonrider_megaplayer: omg r u gonna collab?_
> 
> _mrcactus: omg yes collab_
> 
> _whoami76: collab collab collab_
> 
> _WhiteWolf: That's the plan_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: OMG!!!!!!_
> 
> _sometimedolphin: HI WHITEWOLF_
> 
> _parzival3513: it's really him!!!!_
> 
> _deathstar_dr: lets playyyyyy_
> 
> __

"Yes, guys, we're going to collaborate tonight," Dany rolled her eyes with a small smile. Her viewers were so damn excitable sometimes. There was another explosion of enthusiastic comments at her remark.

She opened Jon's stream, muted, in a separate window, just to say hi. His own chat also had a multitude of messages, sometimes so many that it was impossible to read.

"Alright, let's do this thing," said his voice in her ear, "I think our viewers are keen on seeing us play."

The audio was all directed to her mic, so the viewers could hear him as well as her. The exuberant response from her chat made it obvious that Jon was right.

Dany logged into the game and, a moment later, an invitation popped up on her screen.

_**WhiteWolf** has invited you to a group. [A]ccept, [R]efuse, [B]lock._

Dany clicked 'A' to accept and a new icon appeared on the top left side of the screen, at the area displaying party members.

His avatar was, as expected, a white wolf. It had shiny red eyes and a scar on its snout. It appeared right below her own Avatar, which was actually a piece of digital artwork she had commissioned a long time ago. It depicted quite a good likeness of herself with big black dragon wings sprouting from her back.

"Nice avatar," Jon commented on the headset

Dany grinned, "Yours is not so bad either. Come on, let's queue."

They queued in for a match, egged on by their thoroughly overexcited viewers.

The first few matches went by swiftly. Both of them were very highly-skilled players, which meant they dominated the matches with ease, regardless of the other three players they were randomly teamed up with. They were strong enough players to carry the rest of the team, winning matches easily. 

Their teammates were ecstatic.

Dany had to admit, they worked well together. They needed very few words to convey to one another what they wanted to do, seeming to read each other's minds about the strategy. It was fun, playing like this.

Their fifth match was a different story. From the get-go, it became obvious that the opposing team was extremely skilled, and they gained the upper hand very early into the match.

"What the fuck," she heard Jon mutter, clicking rapidly at his keyboard. He groaned then, "It's a pre-made". A pre-made team of players playing together. Pretty much like themselves, but all five members of the opposing team were a single group. Which meant they were most likely seasoned players, also probably having their own audio communication with each other, which meant they could coordinate a lot better.

Dany and Jon's own teammates were not very skilled nor motivated and spent most of their time running around like headless chickens, trying to understand what to do.

Dany had tried to give them instructions in the in-game chat but gave up after the third "Go WHERE?" from one of the other players.

"Looks like we're on our own," Jon commented and Dany groaned in response. 

"Looks like it," she grumbled. She sighed when one of their teammates died for the 7th time, returning to the spawn point, "I think this match is lost."

"Hmm... maybe not," Jon said thoughtfully, "let's try this-"

He proceeded to outline his plan. It was a long shot, but Dany thought they might just be able to pull it off if they were lucky. It all hinged on her using her hero's ultimate ability.

Every character in the game had a unique, extremely powerful ability that could completely flip the game if used at the right place and time. Dany, as a primary damage dealer, had an especially powerful one called 'Rain of Fire'. The problem was that she had to get close enough to the opposing team to get the maximum effect, and she had to do it without getting killed along the way. On top of it, every ultimate ability had a 3-minute cooldown, which meant it had to be timed properly.

Jon's character, who had the role of a 'tank' was mainly designed to absorb and deflect damage, making him very difficult to kill, but his damaging abilities were rather poor in comparison. They had to execute their plan impeccably in order to have any chance of succeeding.

Their discussion finished, Dany squared her shoulders decisively, her fingers poised over the keyboard, "Ok, let's move."

Both of them sprung forward, heading towards the heart of the enemy territory. Their teammates seemed confused.

_Coffeeme: what r u guys doing? should we follow u?_

_WhiteWolf: NO_

_DragonQueen: just trying something, stay there, please_

_flipfloppy: ur gonna die lol_

_liquidfox__1: omfg this is stupid we're losing so bad_

They cautiously moved closer. Dany was forced to use her cooldown to clear the way when they got closer. She swore under her breath as they retreated into the dense forests surrounding the enemy spawn point, where three of the opposing team members were clustered.

"Ok," Jon said, his character running around to stand in front of her, shielding her, "how long on your cooldown?"

She checked, "2.5 minutes now."

"Oh, shit," he muttered. Dany glanced to the side and saw what he meant. They were discovered by the opposing team, which was advancing on them.

They had to hold them off for 2.5 minutes before they could execute their end game. They spent most of the time running around, dodging the enemy hits. As the tank, Jon absorbed most of the incoming damage, using various shields and self-healing abilities to survive and draw the fire away from Dany, who ran around in the background, dealing enough damage to keep the opposing team occupied.

"Fuck, how long?" asked Jon, whose health points were getting very low indeed.

Dany bit her lip, tapping frantically at the keyboard, "Just 10 seconds now," she said, "hold on."

Exactly 8 seconds later, Jon's character was hit by a blue lightning bolt and died. Dany heard him cackle through the headset, "Alright, DragonQueen. Make it rain."

Dany smiled and mashed her cooldown button, bringing down a rain of fire over the enemy team. Their health points were already low, so they all died.

Dany whooped and pumped a fist in the air, "We did it!"

Jon cheered, "Fuck, yes!"

Their teammates cheered as the match came to its end, with their team victorious. But it was nothing compared to Dany's steam chat which was about to explode with messages.

> __
> 
> _deathstar_dr: OMFG THAT WAS AWESOME_
> 
> _parzival3513: fucking amazing_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: yeeeeeeeeh!_
> 
> _kreepykrawly009: yes!!!!!!_
> 
> _mrcactus: u should collab all the time_
> 
> _theAvalanche: yeah have a joint stream_
> 
> _haiku_moony: u should date xD_
> 
> _doasdd: call ur stream WhiteDragon_
> 
> _fifistar: no call it DragonWolf_
> 
> _parzival3513: yah DragonWolf is awesome_
> 
> _babycakez: gggggggggggg_
> 
> __

Dany laughed, giddy with the win, "Settle down, you guys."

She glanced at the time, "I'm gonna take a 10 min break, you guys, see you in a bit." 

She took off her headset and got up from her seat, stretching her arms. She left and room and headed to the kitchen.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**_< <Now playing: [Imagine Dragons - Believer (Zero Chaotic Remix)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjaCHaLEtds)>>_ **

Jon shook his head, a wide grin plastered on his face, "Ok, that was fucking awesome," he agreed, following a very exuberant response from his chat.

He quirked a smile at one of the comments, "Yeah, we do make a good team," he raised an eyebrow, "And no, I don't know if we're gonna do that again soon." He fervently hoped so, though. That was really fucking fun.

He glanced at his second screen, noticing Dany had vanished, her webcam pointing at a wall. Guessing she was probably on a break, he decided to take one as well.

"Alright, guys, I'm gonna go get a drink, be back in a bit."

And with that, he put down his headset, ran his hand through his sweaty curls, and left the room.

He stepped into the kitchen to find Dany leaning against the counter, a can of GamerFuel in one hand.

She grinned brightly when she saw him, "That was some match, huh."

He got distracted for a moment. He had noticed before how attractive she was, he wasn't blind. But her face was transformed with a smile so bright it almost hurt to look at. He felt something twist in his stomach. He shook himself, opening the fridge to get a can of energy drink for himself.

He smiled at her when he emerged with it, "That was pretty awesome," he agreed, "my chat is very keen on us collaborating again."

He opened the can and took a long swig.

She tapped her fingers on her own can, chewing her bottom lip, "I'd like that," she suddenly said, giving him a hesitant smile, "playing together again, that is."

He lowered his drink, "Yeah, me too," he returned her smile, running a hand through his hair again. He was feeling jittery all of a sudden. Probably the caffeine hitting his bloodstream.

The air became thicker for some reason, both of them standing there staring at each other in silence.

Then Dany dropped her gaze to her can of drink, "I better get back to it," she gave him a quick smile and raised her can to him.

He raised his can as well, and she disappeared into her room.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Dany shut the door behind her, trying to calm the suddenly elevated beating of her heart. She wasn't sure why she was feeling like this, just that she was looking into Jon's eyes and felt a kind of a rush.

Although it might have had something to do with the shot of caffeine. She glanced at the clock. She had a few minutes left of her break. She sat by her PC. Her webcam was still pointed to the wall, just as she left it when she started her break.

She sat back down, feeling restless. She had a few minutes left before her break was over and she spent them aimlessly clicking, browsing various e-sports news sites.

Break over, she redirected the camera to her face and unmuted her mic. Before she had a chance to address the chat, however, a private message blipped on her screen.

_WhiteWolf: So... I was thinking, would you like to do some 1v1?_

1v1 was one of the pvp options of the game, one where you could battle 1 versus 1 against a fellow player. Jon was pretty much challenging her to a duel.

_DragonQueen: You're on._

_WhiteWolf: Show me what you got, DragonQueen._

Dany grinned, feeling the rush of an impending challenge coursing through her. She queued another song on her playlist.

**_< <Now playing: [Fefe Dobson - Rockstar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRJSev8bI0k)>>_ **

"Listen up, guys," she announced to her chat, "We're going to play some 1v1 with WhiteWolf."

> __
> 
> _mrcactus: pvp against WhiteWolf, fuck yeah_
> 
> _doasdd: hes like one of the world's best players, how can u win against him_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: she's also one of the world's best players, dickhead, even if she doesn't compete_
> 
> _deathstar_dr: yeahhhh gogogogogo_
> 
> _crowbird: kick his arse_
> 
> _candymaaaan: kiss his arse_
> 
> _sometimedolphin: monkaS_
> 
> _theAvalanche: this should be interesting_
> 
> _mrwiseguy91: whos gonna win? I'm taking bets_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: DragonQueen will win_
> 
> _ruffio: ur mom will win_
> 
> _sanso_11: i will win_
> 
> _mrwiseguy91: u guys are no fun :(_
> 
> __

She logged into the game and immediately received the challenge invitation from Jon. She accepted and placed her hands on her keyboard and mouse.

The rules were simple. Kill or be killed. The player who outlived the other won the match.

At the hero selection screen, she picked Khaleesi. It was a well-rounded hero, perfect for one on one matches.

As soon as the map loaded, she kicked into gear, hurrying towards the center of the map. She spotted Jon right away. He had selected The Night King hero. An undead lich with frost powers.

Almost right away, she was caught by a frost trap. Cursing under her breath, she fired a spell to release herself, hurriedly ducking behind a wall do dodge a frostbolt coming her way.

They danced around each other for a few minutes, mostly using the terrain to hide from one another's hits. Finally, Dany cast a shield around herself and boldly stepped from behind the dense foliage she was hiding behind. She fired several spells in quick succession, successfully ensnaring Jon's character and landing some lightning bolts on him that caused his health to drop pretty low. He eventually managed to freeze her for a few seconds, enough to escape the snare and regenerate some health.

It went back and forth like this for a while until Dany finally managed to land a fatal hit, winning the match.

She whooped in victory, laughing elatedly. It was a good feeling, to defeat one of the best players in the world. She knew she was good, she could hold her own against the best of them, but proving it to herself was all that much sweeter.

Her chat exploded with cheers.

> __
> 
> _jigsawgirl: OMG I KNEW YOU'D WIN_
> 
> _mrcactus: weeeeeeeeeeeee!_
> 
> _deathstar_dr: THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!!!_
> 
> _sanso_11: woohoo_
> 
> _doasdd: omg you won against WhiteWolf_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: told you_
> 
> _alfaalfalfa: yessssssss iluvu!!!_
> 
> _parzival3513: awesome match_
> 
> __

Dany smiled at them, "Thanks, guys," she said brightly, elated with her victory.

The indicator on her discord blipped and she clicked a button to accept the incoming call from Jon. 

"Hold on a sec, guys." Dany muted her outgoing audio except for discord so that she could speak to him in peace.

"GG," his voice came from the headset. He sounded impressed.

"You too," she grinned, "you made me work for it."

He chuckled, the sound pleasing to her ears. There was a short silence and then he said, "You're really good." He said finally.

"You don't have to sound so surprised," she teased, absurdly pleased at the compliment.

"I'm not," he said indignantly, "well, maybe a little," he amended a moment later, "more like impressed."

Dany bit her lip, face flushed with pleasure, "Thanks. Another one?"

"Oh, definitely."

Dany grinned as the call ended, unmuting her mic and queuing another challenge. This was going to be SO much fun.

They played against each other a few more times. They were pretty evenly matched, so in the end, the win rate was roughly 50-50.

Dany slipped into her bed hours later, utterly exhausted but extremely pleased with herself.

The thought fleeted through her mind just as she was falling asleep. She could get used to playing with Jon Snow.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, the next chapter won't take as long, but it's really anyone's guess, things are very busy irl right now.
> 
> P.S. My editing software messed up bad and somehow fused some unrelated sentences together. I think I fixed it all now, but possibly missed something. So if you notice things that make no sense, well, *sigh*, I'll try to pay more attention next time.


	3. Now you see me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Come on, who ruffled your feathers?"
> 
> "It's nothing."
> 
> "Uh-uh, try again."
> 
> "Well, I had a spider incident this morning."
> 
> "A 'spider' incident? If that's a euphemism for something, I'm not familiar with it..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi,
> 
> It's been a while, I know. But hey, I posted that oneshot last week so hopefully, that made waiting a bit easier ;)  
> I was struggling quite a lot with this chapter but finally got to a version I like thanks to my amazing beta.
> 
> Things are still busy irl (and will be for a while) so updates might come slowly, but rest assured, I'm not planning to drop anything. If I ever do, I'll make sure to let you guys know (because it sucks to wait for updates that never come ☹️).

Dany was barely awake when her phone started ringing shrilly. 

She groaned, rolling onto her back and grabbing the offending device from where it rested on her nightstand. She blinked a bleary eye at it. The display read _Tyrion Lannister_. Her agent.

She had hired him a couple of years back when her popularity started soaring, to handle the business end of things. He handled offers from potential sponsors and tournament organizers and the like. He was usually on the ball, despite his unfortunate habit of calling her way too early in the morning.

She brought the phone to her ear, "Hi Tyrion," she muttered groggily into it.

"Hello, my dear," his voice came through the device, sounding awfully chipper, "I didn't wake you, did I?"

Dany huffed, "Of course you did," she said grumpily, "you know I stream late nights, why do you call so early?"

"I do apologize," he said, not sounding very apologetic at all, "I have other business to attend to later, are you awake enough to listen or should I call after you've had your beauty sleep?"

She could almost _hear_ his eyeroll.

"It's fine," she replied, stifling a yawn, "what's up?"

"I saw you've been co-streaming with WhiteWolf," he promptly said.

"Yeah," Dany frowned, sitting up, rubbing a hand across her eyes in an attempt to further wake herself up, "he's my new roommate, we played together a few times. Is that a problem?"

"Oh no, not at all," said Tyrion genially, "on the contrary, it seemed to have boosted your subscriber number."

"Yeah..." she had noticed that herself. Her viewers were pretty enthusiastic about their joint streams, constantly clamoring for more.

On the other end of the phone, Tyrion was still talking, "I was thinking maybe you two can make it a regular thing, co-stream once a week or so, it will do you both good. I spoke with Snow's team manager, he agrees with me."

"Alright then," said Dany, pleased at the news, "I'll speak to Jon." 

She'd been enjoying the collaborations with him and was keen on having more of them. And if she was not mistaken, he was enjoying himself as well. More often than not, he was the one to approach her about it. She bit back a satisfied smirk.

"Excellent, excellent, one more thing-" said Tyrion, "you've been offered a sponsorship to play a new adventure game."

"Oh?" Dany perked up at his words. She absolutely _loved_ adventure games, "Which one?"

"It's one called _The Long Night_. Some horror/fantasy game."

"Oh, I've heard about it, it's not even out yet!" she exclaimed, clutching the phone to her ear.

"Precisely. They want to boost interest for the game by giving a free pre-launch copy to several prominent streamers, provided you spend a minimum of five hours playing it on stream," he explained, "the payment is quite generous, too."

"Yeah, sounds good," Dany said excitedly. She wasn't worried about the payment. If Tyrion was describing it as 'generous', she had no doubt it was. And this particular game had been highly anticipated, from a game studio which had released some of the best adventure games in the last decade.

"Alright then, I'll be sending you a download link and a license key as soon as I receive them, should be a day after tomorrow. Have a great day, my dear."

"Yeah, you too, Tyrion," replied Dany absently, her mind already elsewhere.

She put down the phone and hopped out of bed, heading to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


When she stepped out, teeth brushed and hair combed through, she nearly ran headfirst into Jon, who was on his way to the kitchen, just like herself.

He looked as though he just rolled out of bed, hair all sleep-tousled, dressed in a ratty t-shirt and rumpled shorts. Dany privately thought this look was adorable on him.

He was just finishing a phone call, "Sure, ok, thanks, Davos," he said and disconnected the call.

"Hey, morning," he smiled at her, running a hand through his messy hair.

"Morning," she returned, as they both made their way into the kitchen together.

"I was just talking about you," said Jon with a smirk, flicking the switch on the coffee maker to 'On'.

"Oh?" Dany raised an eyebrow.

"Aye, my team manager just called. He said he spoke to your agent and that they both agree we should-"

"-co-stream more often?" Dany grinned, "yeah, I got the same call."

Jon pulled two mugs from the cabinet, filling them both with coffee. He handed one to Dany, who gave him a grateful smile. 

He was always so considerate, she thought, sipping her coffee. She could definitely say they were becoming friends, not just roommates. The thought made a happy bubble blossom in her stomach. It was such a relief to actually be on good terms with one's roommate, instead of constantly dreading running into him the way it was with Daario.

"So... what do you say?" Jon asked, face half-hidden behind his own coffee mug.

"I think it's a good idea," she said, nodding, "actually-" she chewed her bottom lip, an idea forming, "I just got sponsored to play this new adventure game that's about to come out. The Long Night, have you heard of it?"

"Fuck, yes," said Jon, his eyes widening in excitement, "It's from the same guys who did House of the Dragon, right?"

"That's right," Dany grinned. House of the Dragon was one of her favorite adventure games. She had played through it several times to explore all the possible subplots.

"You're getting it pre-launch?"

"Yep."

Jon groaned, "I'm officially jealous then," he said, "can't wait to get my hands on it."

"Well... I was thinking," she said tentatively, "do you want to play together? On-stream?"

"Oh," Jon seemed surprised and pleased, "Aye, that would be awesome, actually, thanks!"

"Great," she smiled, feeling flutters of excitement in her belly at the prospect of playing alongside him again, "This weekend, maybe? Friday?"

"You're on," Jon gulped the rest of his coffee, running his hand across his mouth, "I'm gonna get out of your hair now," he said teasingly, "feel free to swear at the top of your lungs if you lose a match."

Dany snorted, playfully punching his shoulder, "Like that happens very often. Where to?"

"The gym," he cracked a smile, "It's been a while."

"Ok, have fun."

Dany ventured into the living room, idly sipping her coffee. She waved goodbye at Jon as he went out the door, his gym bag slung across his shoulder, sneakers on his feet.

A memory sparked in her mind. Marg had said something about Jon doing an online gym series or something of the sort. She had forgotten about it before but was now curious to find out exactly what Marg was speaking of. 

She went back to her room and turned her PC on. She quickly tapped at her keyboard, opening Jon's stream archive and checking the list of his past streams. She went over a long list of Dragonrider streams and a few other games when she finally stopped on a video titled "WhiteWolf IRL, Gym series #12".

She clicked on the link, opening the video. She quickly skipped to the middle. Her mouth fell open when she saw what it contained.

It was Jon, in a small gym, and he was demonstrating various exercises. She swallowed, noting how well his white tank-top clung to his body, how muscular his legs were, poking out of his training shorts.

She listened to the rough timbre of his voice as he demonstrated the correct way to weightlift, explaining how to avoid damaging one's back. She stared at his muscles bunching and flexing, gleaming with a fine sheen of sweat. The sight of him all sweaty caused goosebumps to erupt on her skin.

She jumped in her seat with a gasp when her door was suddenly flung open, "Hey, Dany, have you seen my-"

Jon froze at the doorway, his gym bag clutched in his hand. She hastily minimized the window, but she saw he already saw when she was watching. She felt her cheeks grow bright red.

"-phone?" he finished, quirking an eyebrow up, biting back a grin.

_Fuck._

"In the kitchen, I think," she mumbled, dropping her gaze to her keyboard in embarrassment.

Jon leaned his shoulder against her doorway, an amused twinkle in his eyes, "So... you're checking out my gym series, huh?"

"Oh, spare me," she rolled her eyes at the smirk playing on his lips, "Marg mentioned it and I was curious."

"I didn't say anything," he laughed, but the teasing spark in his eyes could not be mistaken.

"I can hear you thinking it," she retorted, unable to keep from grinning sheepishly now.

"I'm just saying... if you wanted to stare at my biceps all you had to do is ask," he winked at her and she giggled in spite of herself, shaking her head at him.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" she raised an eyebrow at him, attempting a stern expression but having difficulties to keep from smiling.

He flashed her a wicked grin, "Yep, the _gym_. You know... you can come watch if you wa-"

She pushed him, laughing, out of her room, giving him a mock-icy glare, even while unable to wipe the self-conscious grin off her face.

She heard the front door close as Jon left, returning to her PC. She was about to close the stream window, but her finger hesitated over the mouse button.

She wouldn't mind staring at those biceps just a _tiny_ bit longer. She leaned back in her seat, propping her feet on her desk. Coffee mug in hand, she opened the window in full screen again.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Come Friday night, Dany could be found by her PC, having downloaded and installed her copy of The Long Night. She started the game, opening the setup screen. She made sure to tweak the brightness setting to be lighter than usual. Horror games tended to be so dark that it was difficult to see what the hells was going on.

"You coming?" she yelled out, pushing buttons to set the best resolution and volume.

"Be right there," she heard Jon's voice from the general direction of the kitchen. He appeared at her door a minute later, clutching a bag of chips and two cans of GamerFuel.

"Snacks," he proudly declared, placing all the loot on the far end of the desk.

Dany grinned, "Good thinking."

He then went back to his room to get his chair, wheeling it into Dany's room, placing it right next to hers. He plopped down on it, grabbing one of the energy drinks.

Dany finished messing about with the settings and grabbed her own can. She noticed Jon staring at her from the corner of his eye and bit back a grin. She chose a maroon halter top for tonight's stream. It tended to draw attention to her boobs, even though it wasn't very revealing. 

In truth, she purposefully chose something she knew guys had trouble keeping from staring at. She'd be lying if she said she didn't want to get back at him for the whole gym series incident. Let him try to avoid staring at _her_ for a change, she thought, amused at Jon's obvious failure not to stare.

"What? I can feel you staring," she said, glancing at him with a raised eyebrow and a teasing grin.

"I wasn't staring," he said indignantly. She noticed his cheeks pinkening. "You look good in red," he said after a few more seconds.

Dany felt warmth spreading in her chest, pleased with the compliment, "Thanks." 

She eyed his chosen attire. He was wearing a black t-shirt and faded jeans. They molded quite nicely to his body, "You don't look so bad yourself," she returned and he turned his eyes back to hers, a small smile playing on his lips.

A moment seemed to freeze as they stared at each other. Dany could almost feel the air in the room changing consistency, becoming warm and thick. She hastily wrenched her eyes away from Jon's, taking a hasty gulp from her drink.

"Shall we start, then?" she nervously asked, eyes on the screen again.

"Aye," he said softly, "let's play."

Dany logged into the streaming site, firing up her stream. She decided to forgo the headset this time in order to be able to properly hear Jon as they were playing, directing the audio to her speakers instead.

**_< <Now playing: [Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkIWmsP3c_s)>>_ **

> __
> 
> _**ChatBot: DragonQueen stream is LIVE** _
> 
> _mrcactus: YEY it's live!_
> 
> _theAvalanche: omg its whitewolf too_
> 
> _krippo: what r u playing 2nite?_
> 
> _deliveryman: hi dragonqueen!_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: WhiteWolf!! Hi <3_
> 
> _parzival3513: FUCK YEAH COSTREAM_
> 
> _nanananana: Dragonrider 2nite?_
> 
> _tictacdrplayer1: whose that guy_
> 
> _mrcactus: dont u know whitewolf Oo_
> 
> __

"Good evening, everyone," Dany greeted, smiling brightly at the webcam, "tonight I have the pleasure of playing a new adventure game that's about to be released," she explained, "It's called The Long Night and it comes from MindGames, a gaming studio which had released countless successful and popular adventure games," she dutifully recited the text required by the sponsor, "I was given this copy for free pre-launch and I'm excited to share it with you all."

She paused to glance at the response from the chat. Most of her viewers had heard of the game and were excited about it. Others bemoaned the fact that she wouldn't be playing Dragonrider tonight, as expected. She ignored them. You couldn't please everyone no matter what you did, after all.

"I also have the pleasure of co-playing it with WhiteWolf tonight," Dany gestured to him.

"Hi, guys, it's good to be here," Jon waved at the webcam to an enthusiastic response from the chat.

"Ok, let's roll," Dany clicked the Start new game button, leaning back in her chair to watch the opening scene.

It depicted an ancient land covered in ice and a small dark-haired boy kneeling in the snow. The backstory was about a boy who was told a prophecy about the dead rising to destroy the world of the living.

Once the opening scene ended, Dany grabbed the mouse and they started playing. The game was difficult, the puzzles extremely intricate, just the way she liked it. They spent several intense hours playing and arguing about the best course of action, trying to figure out how to navigate the complex plot.

At one point, they ended up trying to unlock a door to a creaking wooden cabin in the woods outside the castle.

Dany clicked the door but it wouldn't open.

"What's that?" Jon pointed at a burnished copper plaque mounted on the wall next to the door.

"Let's see..." Dany clicked the small sign. It turned out to be a riddle. The answer would be the password needed to unlock the door.

She read from the screen, " _The more you take, the more you leave behind._ "

"Hmm," she frowned, trying to think. This kind of riddles usually had some word-play to them, they were often not to be taken literally.

Next to her, Jon was scratching his head thoughtfully, "It's going to be something related to the game," he said slowly, "something we've encountered already, most likely."

"Perhaps..." Dany cast her mind about, trying to remember the finer details of everything they've been doing so far. Her eyes tracked the screen absently, the naked trees, bowed against the harsh winds, the dilapidated little cabin with its broken windows, the trail in the thick snow leading to it...

It came to her in a sudden moment of clarity. She pointed excitedly at the screen, at the marks their feet left in the snow, "It's _footsteps_!" she declared triumphantly.

Jon's thoughtful frown cleared right away, "Yes! That sounds just right!" he exclaimed, giving her a bright smile, "try it!"

Trying to ignore the twisting in her belly brought on by his wide smile, Dany typed the answer and, sure enough, the door to the cabin slid open. The chat cheered.

While playing, they inexplicably moved closer to each other. Dany noticed at some point that their knees were brushing against each other, their shoulders pressed together as they leaned close to the screen. 

Dany could feel the warmth of Jon's skin through his thin t-shirt. It made her own skin tingle pleasantly. She wondered if he even noticed, as absorbed in the game as he was.

A few moments later she glanced at the chat window, her eyes widening. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who noticed.

**_< <Now playing: [Emily Browning - Sweet Dreams](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxdwEOpGknk)>>_ **

> __
> 
> _chron12: ur awfully close together :P_
> 
> _tictacdrplayer1: Oo leave room 4 the holy spirit xD_
> 
> _krippo: lmao_
> 
> _crowbird: lol_
> 
> _mekkatorque: LOL_
> 
> _koyo_koyo: told u they were banging_
> 
> _**ModBot: <koyo_koyo> has been banned** _
> 
> _jigsawgirl: u guys are arseholes_
> 
> _mrcactus: omg_
> 
> _deliveryman: Oo_
> 
> _nanananana: r u dating?_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: they're just roommates_
> 
> _dragonqwween16: i dont think so_
> 
> _theAvalanche: INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT ON STREAM OMG :'D_
> 
> _darkHorssss: PORN ON STREAM OMG_
> 
> _**ModBot: <darkHorssss> has been banned** _
> 
> _ssqeee_wa: do a nekkid stream_
> 
> _**ModBot: <ssqeee_wa> has been banned** _
> 
> __

Dany felt herself flush. She pressed her lips together, trying to control her embarrassment and anger. People could be real arseholes sometimes, especially when granted anonymity provided by the internet. But she knew from ample experience that the best course of action was not to show them it affected her. It would only stoke the fire and make things worse.

 _Don't feed the trolls,_ she reminded to herself, biting into her lower lip in an effort to control her simmering annoyance.

She saw Jon looking at the chat from the corner of her eye.

"Don't mind them," he murmured so quietly so the sound wouldn't carry through the mic, "You wouldn't believe the kind of shit I've had people telling me on-stream over the years."

Despite his words, she felt him move imperceptibly further away from her.

"Settle down," she said into the mic, forcing her voice to be calm, "let's keep playing."

They were getting into a very complicated part of the game.

"I think we should use that blue crystal here," Jon pointed to the screen, running a hand through his curls in agitation, "to freeze the undead attacking the castle."

"That makes no sense," Dany argued, "they were born from ice, freezing them doesn't serve any purpose," she clicked around, searching through their inventory of magical items until spotting something and pointing at it triumphantly, "THIS is what we should use- the fire talisman."

Jon frowned at it, "What does it do, again?"

Dany clicked on the item to scan the help text, "It 'unleashes the wrath of the fire god' it seems," she reported.

Jon shrugged, "Worth a try, I suppose."

Dany clicked on the item and they rushed forward to protect the castle, which was under siege by the undead army. Their soldiers were running around in disarray, trying to defeat the zombies swarming all over the place.

"There, stand there," said Jon urgently, pointing at a small hill overlooking the battlefield, "and use the talisman."

The rushed between the hordes of fighting soldiers, dodging zombies and reanimated bodies. They finally made it to the hill and Dany activated the talisman.

The swords of their soldiers suddenly became alight with fire, the touch of them incinerating the undead whenever they came in contact with their gray mottled skin. Both of them whooped in excitement as their army made quick work of the zombie horde. The castle was safe for now. This marked the end of the first chapter of the game.

Dany laughed in elation as the chat cheered.

"We did it!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Good work," said Jon, who was also laughing. He turned to look at her, "We make a good team," he commented, his voice suddenly soft.

"Yeah, we do," Dany answered, returning his gaze. She was momentarily mesmerized by the look in his eyes. There was something warm and sweet there. A hint of something else, too. Something hungry. She felt the room heat up. She swallowed, wrenching her eyes away from his, hoping their viewers didn't notice.

She really wasn't in the mood for any more shit from the chat tonight.

The chat, however, still seemed to be buzzing all about the game.

> __
> 
> _theAvalanche: that was awesome!!!!_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: well done!!!_
> 
> _krippo: OMG_
> 
> _theAvalanche: YEY FOR DRAGONWOLF TEAM_
> 
> _deathstar_dr: MORE MORE_
> 
> _mrcactus: YEAH MORE PLZ!_
> 
> __

Dany glanced at the time, shocked to see that more than six hours had passed since they started playing. It was getting very late.

She nudged Jon's shoulder, "Enough for tonight, you think?" she murmured, still trying to avoid looking directly into his eyes. It was making something nervous coil in her stomach.

He glimpsed the time, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. He huffed a laugh, "Time does fly. Yeah, probably."

Dany turned back to the chat, "Sorry, everyone," she said apologetically into the mic, "it's getting really late, I think we're done for tonight. An end of a chapter is a good place for a break."

> __
> 
> _kweendr: NOOOOOO dont goooooooo_
> 
> _mrcactus: just a little bit more plz :( we were just getting into the good part_
> 
> _parzival3513: continue 2moro?_
> 
> _sometimedolphin: :'(_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: gn_
> 
> _mekkatorque: STAY PLZZZZ_
> 
> __

Dany stifled a yawn, "Same time tomorrow, guys, good night," and with that, she clicked off the stream. She rubbed at her tired eyes, hearing the creak from Jon's chair as he got up from his seat. He grabbed the empty drink cans and chips bag, going to the kitchen to toss them in the trash.

He came back to get his chair, lingering in the doorway. A moment passed when they just stared at each other, then he cracked a small smile, "Thanks for letting me tag along, it was fun."

"Thanks for joining," she smiled back. He nodded slightly and bade her good night. He then wheeled his chair out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Dany went to brush her teeth, then slipped into her PJs and into bed. But sleep had eluded her, leaving her tossing and turning, despite the late hour.

She sighed, briefly considered and decided against opening a certain gym stream archive before grabbing her phone and shooting a text to Margaery.

_**Dany: You still awake?** _

She received an answer within a second.

_**Marg: Sure am, what's up?** _

Dany tapped the screen to start a call. Margaery answered immediately, "Hi girl," she greeted, sounding wide awake despite the fact that it was nearing 3am. Margaery had always been a night owl, "saw your stream just now, pretty awesome."

Dany smiled, "Yeah, it was fun. Really cool game."

"And you and Jon seem to play well together," she added, a sly ting to her voice.

Dany rolled her eyes even though Marg couldn't see her, "I know what you're implying," she said testily.

"Who, me?" asked Marg innocently, "I'm not implying anything, just pointing out you guys are good together..."

"Yeah, well, he's my roommate," said Dany flatly, "anyway," she continued before Marg could say anything else, "wanna have coffee tomorrow?" It had been a while since they saw each other, Dany missed their talks.

"Definitely," Marg replied cheerfully, "10:00-ish? Our usual place?"

Dany groaned, "Why so early?" she whined.

"Because I have class later," Marg explained, sounding exasperated, "you'll have to catch your Z's some other time, princess."

"Fine, fine," said Dany grumpily, "see you tomorrow."

She put the phone back down and snuggled into the sheets, finally able to sleep.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Come morning, Dany slowly opened her eyes, still exhausted. She glanced at the time and jumped up, swearing under her breath. She had originally meant to be up much earlier to be on time to meet Marg. 

Apparently, hitting 'snooze' repeatedly was not such a good idea. She rushed out of bed, making her way to the bathroom.

Dany hurriedly pulled her clothes off. She drew the shower curtain aside and carefully stepped into the tub. She was just about to draw the curtain closed when she noticed a movement on the floor from the corner of her eye. She turned to look and almost screamed.

Because on the floor stood the biggest fucking spider she had ever seen in her entire life. 

She froze on the spot, staring at the thing who was slowly walking around, making a menacing clicking sound. She wasn't usually one of those girls who were queasy about spiders. But this was different. This was downright _alien_. She was about 90% sure it was the same thing that bit Peter Parker and no way in hells was she sticking around to find out for certain.

She clutched the shower curtain with shaky fingers, wondering what the hells she could do. She would make a run for it but it was standing between her and the door, so she didn't dare try.

The shampoo bottle certainly could not be used as a weapon. That thing would probably drink it up and sprout a few more legs. Or something.

She felt unbelievably vulnerable, standing there naked and exposed. There was only one thing she could do. 

She took a deep breath, filled her lungs, and unleashed a scream, "JOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!"

  


🕷️

  


Jon was currently in his bed, his blanket twisted around him, suspended in a space between sleeping and awake. He was having a really nice dream. Details were blurry and murky but he was wrapped around something soft and warm. There was a glint of silver, too.

And then he jumped up violently, nearly falling out of bed when a scream pierced the silence. It was his name, and he recognized the panicked voice as belonging to Dany.

"FUCK!" he sprung up and out of bed, his heart hammering. Something must've happened. She was in trouble. Like maybe a mad ax-murderer had made its way into the apartment. He was about to run pell-mell out of the room when he hesitated. He turned to the wall and wrenched the replica Longclaw off of it. _Just in case_.

He burst into Dany's room, but she wasn't there. He looked around, eyes wild, panic settling in his stomach. There were no signs of a struggle that he could see.

"DANYYY!" he bellowed, staring around in agitation, imagining increasingly bizarre scenarios of what could have happened to her.

"IN HERE!" she yelled back. Her voice was coming from the direction of the bathroom. He turned around and ran, bursting inside. He looked around wildly, still holding Longclaw aloft. 

But there was nobody there. 

Nobody except for Dany. Except for a _very naked_ Dany, standing in the bathtub, clutching the shower curtain to her body. That fact did not escape him, even in his agitated state.

  


🕷️

  


A split-second later, Jon had burst into the bathroom, wielding a fucking _sword_. He looked like he just rolled out of bed, his hair a tangled mess on his head, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer-briefs. 

Dany's panicked mind registered his very nicely muscled pecs and abs and the dark line of hair disappearing into his waistband. 

_Oh, boy_. Not even a fucking mutant spider could keep her from noticing _that_ body.

He glanced around, looking panicked. He probably thought she had slipped and broken her leg or neck or something.

"What's wrong?" he asked urgently, turning his eyes to her.

She mutely pointed to the floor in front of the door. He looked down and jumped back with a strangled yell, eyeing the big black shape with its many legs.

"What the FUCK is that?" he sputtered, gingerly moving backwards, clutching the sword in both hands.

"I'm really not sure, but I think it might be radioactive," said Dany. Her voice sounded high and shrill to her ears. She wasn't sure whether it was only the damn spider who made her throat suddenly go drier and her heartbeat pick up speed. The nearly-naked Jon Snow with a giant sword in his hand might've had something to do with it as well.

Jon eyed the spider as though he was looking at something _evil_. He pointed his sword at it, giving it a cursory poke. The thing scurried sideways, making that ominous clicking noise again.

Jon groaned, "Fuck, I think I made it angry."

"Oh Gods, please just kill it, killitkillitkillit!!!" Dany whined, clutching the shower curtain tightly to her chest. She was usually all for humane treatment of living creatures and such, usually preferred to just drop bugs out the window or something. But that thing looked like it meant business.

"I'm trying!" said Jon, holding the sword in front of him. After a few more seconds in which Jon danced around it, poking at it with his sword, he finally landed a jab right into its soft underbelly. The beast curled in on itself and stilled.

Jon poked at it hesitantly again, but it didn't move, lying crumpled and defeated on the cold tiles.

"I think it's dead," he said, breathing hard still.

Dany sighed in relief, her heartbeat slowly going back to normal.

"Thank you," she said, making sure the shower curtain was covering her torso, "I'm sorry if I woke you, I just didn't know what to do. That thing was staring at me," she continued. 

Jon glanced at her, nodding. His cheeks were turning pink and he stared aimlessly at the wall, as though trying not to look directly at her. 

"Ummm... you know that spiders' legs do not have muscles? When they die the blood flow stops and that's why their legs curl up..."

_What the...? Why is he being weird?_ She frowned at him, "What's wrong with you?"

"Uhh-- nothing," he stuttered, "just... uh, you might want to rethink your attire," he laughed nervously, his cheeks definitely turning red now.

Dany glanced down and pushed the shower curtain away from her body in horror. 

The curtain was see-through. All of her... _naked bits_ were exposed. She felt herself flushing a deep red.

"Umm-- I'm glad you're ok, I'll just leave you to your shower now," muttered Jon, his eyes still fixed resolutely on the wall. He scooped the alien-spider carcass carefully with a huge wad of toilet paper and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Dany stood there frozen, her heart racing, if possible, even faster than it did when she saw the spider.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Jon went back to his room, shutting the door behind him.

He perched Longclaw carefully on his desk, turning to stretch on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. His heart was still pounding.

He surely would never get that image dislodged from his mind.

Dany, wrapped in a shower curtain that left very little to the imagination. He had tried to do the decent thing and not to look, tried to avert his eyes in respect to her privacy, but he couldn't unsee the image, which he suspected was permanently burnt into his retinas.

He had noticed she had a nice body before, sure, he would be blind not to. But now he got a confirmation that she had the cutest tits he had ever seen. Round and perfectly-sized, like they would fit right in the palms of his hands.

_Fuck._ He groaned, pressing a pillow to his face. He should NOT be thinking about this. 

He fervently hoped Dany would be done soon because he could really _really_ use a cold shower.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Her shower finished, Dany returned to her room, still feeling flustered. She pulled on some clothes, quickly towel-dried her hair and brushed out the tangles. She then grabbed her purse, shooting out the door in a rush.

She was only twelve minutes late when she pushed the cafe's door open. She spotted Marg, sitting at a table right in the middle, a giant mug of coffee already resting on the table next to her.

"Sorry I'm late," Dany panted as she dropped on the chair across from Marg, "hit snooze one too many times, I guess." She raised her hand to the waitress, asking for coffee and a bagel.

Marg slowly slipped her sunglasses off her nose, centering a narrowed-eyed gaze on Dany.

"What?" asked Dany, raising an eyebrow.

"You seem... off-balance, somehow," declared Marg, "come on, who ruffled your feathers?"

_You fucking mind-reading alien, you're lucky I love you..._ She really did hate how perceptive Marg was sometimes.

"It's nothing," mumbled Dany, sipping her coffee which had just arrived.

"Uh-uh, try again."

Dany huffed. _Should've known Marg wouldn't let it slide._

"Well, I had a spider incident this morning," she lamented.

"A 'spider' incident?" Marg frowned, "If that's a euphemism for something, I'm not familiar with it..."

"Nope, there was an actual spider. The size of a house." Dany then went to describe her morning from the moment she stepped into the shower and set eyes on that freak of nature arachnid.

Marg listened, eyebrow rising up so high until it was in danger of disappearing into her hairline. When Dany had finished the story, there was a sly smile playing on Marg's lips.

"What?" asked Dany, yet again. She had a feeling she knew _what_ , though.

"So... Jon Snow in his underwear swinging a sword, huh? Do describe. In detail, please." There was a teasing twinkle in Marg's eyes now.

Dany's cheeks pinkened at the memory, "Didn't you say you two were like siblings when you were dating Robb? Why would you care about what he looks in his undies?"

"I said I was like a sister to him," said Marg with an eyeroll and a wink, "not that _I_ ever thought of him as a brother, he's way too hot for that. Now, spill."

Dany groaned, "Well, he clearly works out..." she murmured, now unable to suppress a sheepish grin.

Marg cackled, "Damn, I wish I were there. So what are we talking about here? Boxers or briefs?" her smile turned devilish, "Does his _sword_ glow in the dark?"

"For fuck's sake, Marg..."

But Marg wouldn't give up the chance for some juicy details.

Once Dany had finished describing what she saw of Jon Snow's body to Marg's satisfaction, Marg leaned back, tapping her long nails on her coffee mug, a sly smile on her face.

"And he actually saw you naked?"

Dany groaned at the memory, burying her head in her hands, "Well, I had a completely see-through shower curtain wrapped around me, so I think he saw way more than I intended to show," she muttered from between her fingers, face flaming red again, "not sure how I'll look him in the eye again," she whined, picking at her bagel.

"Aw, honey," Marg patted her hand, still laughing, "I'm sure he's wondering the same thing. Be sure he can't stop imagining you naked now."

"You're not helping! Can we just talk about something that doesn't make me wish the ground just swallowed me whole?"

"Fine, fine," said Marg, still giggling.

Dany resolved to steer the conversation to far less embarrassing topics.

"So what class do you have today?"

Marg scrunched her nose in disgust, "Business law," she pretended to gag, "I think I need another coffee if I'm not to fall asleep during that snooze-fest." She raised her arm, signaling the waitress again.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


After coffee with Marg, Dany had gone back to the apartment. Jon was shut in his room, as far as she could tell.

She sat by her PC, her thoughts still on the morning's 'incident'. Her fingers nervously drummed on the desk. She opened a private browser window and started searching. She had promised herself before she wouldn't be searching for that but her resolve was quickly crumbling. 

She was consumed with curiosity about Jon's _'photos of a private nature'_ that were leaked on the web.

It took a while. Most of the pictures were removed, as she expected, but she had unparalleled search skills. At last, she found some old thread with a link. She bit her lip and clicked.

There were only two pictures left, the rest had been removed.

One showed Jon in his underwear, lounging on a sofa on his back, holding a controller and grinning to the camera. Dany's eyes roved over his muscled form, the smooth skin of his chest and abdomen, his muscled calves. She swallowed when her eyes glanced at the obvious bulge under his boxers, feeling her hands grow slick with sweat.

The second picture had Jon lying on his stomach on a rumpled bed, obviously asleep, his hair tangled about his face. And he was utterly, deliciously naked.

"Fuck," she murmured, surveying his perfect bare arse. She heard a door close somewhere in the apartment and jumped guiltily, closing the browser window.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


She couldn't sleep. 

She'd been tossing and turning in her bed for an hour, feeling like a tightly wound-up spring.

She couldn't get the image of him out of her mind. 

_Damn it_. She ran her hands through her hair with a frustrated groan. She couldn't remember ever getting this hot 'n bothered over a guy before. She was full of nervous energy, her skin tingling. 

She bit her lip, debating with herself.

_Oh, fuck it._

She rolled her side, stripping off her shorts. She then slid her hand down her belly, closing her eyes, the mental image of Jon Snow clear in her mind.

Jon, standing in the bathroom in his undies, swinging Longclaw. 

Jon lying face-down on a bed, asleep and completely naked.

Jon... who was only a wall away from her...

Her fingers slid into her panties. They ventured further down, first hesitantly and then more surely, her imagination running wild.

_Her hands on his chest, pressing against smooth muscle..._

_His lips pressed against her lips, her neck, breasts then lower still..._

_Tangled in bed together, sweaty and breathless, his naked body stretched over hers, his knee pressing slowly between her legs..._

Her breath caught.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this chapter was up to par. To be honest the only scene I'm really happy with is the spider scene 🕷️
> 
> 'Till next time!


	4. Never Have I Ever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So... what's she like?"
> 
> "She's... pretty great. We get along, we stream together sometimes."
> 
> "And hot?"
> 
> "That what Marg said?"
> 
> "In these very words."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaack!
> 
> I know it's been a while, but I'm back with a new chapter and a status update!
> 
> So... we have a newborn at home now 👶 which is why I haven't had the time (nor energy) to write much lately. But as I promised, I'm still at it.
> 
> I think there's not much left for this story (a tentative guess.. maybe 2 more chapters?), and I have some plans for what I want to do next (more on that when I finish this one).
> 
> Ok, here we go, put your headsets on and enjoy the ride 🎧

  


Jon's fingers flew nimbly over the keyboard and mouse, expertly navigating his character through the terrain, skillfully dodging, parrying, and dealing damage as he went. He burst through a dense patch of foliage, carefully aiming a well-placed shadowbolt at his opponent.

They were in the midst of a team practice. The next tournament was some way away, but they needed to keep their skills sharpened and stay on top of the changes in the game. To Jon's surprise and delight, the practice was going especially well today, everyone performing near flawlessly.

They usually didn't need to physically meet in order to practice, carrying on all communication through their headsets. Today was no different. Jon didn't need to incessantly instruct them. At this skill-level, all team members knew what to do and could be left to their own devices. When he did need to direct them, they promptly executed his instructions to the letter.

 _Fuck_ , he loved that feeling. Being a part of a group working together like a well-oiled machine. At their best moments, it almost felt like they were small parts of the same entity, each player interacting so seamlessly with the others that it felt effortless. It was almost ingrained, after hours upon hours of training, the overwhelming amount of time they spent grinding the same content, practicing the same maps and scenarios over and over again. At some point, instinct just took over, enabling them to make split-second decisions.

And then the glory of victory, the satisfaction that could only result from a job well done, from all their efforts culminating in one glorious moment when "WINNER!" flashed on their screens.

 _This,_ this was the reason he fell in love with gaming to begin with. The collaboration, the teamwork. He liked playing alone every now and then as well, just like many gamers, but he never garnered as much satisfaction from playing solo. Being a part of a group of players, leading it, designing a strategy, and then seeing his team execute it near flawlessly, that was the best part about gaming to him.

Jon ran his fingers through his sweaty hair, grinning triumphantly when the current match concluded, "Great work, everyone," he said into the mic, "pretty sure we have Highgarden in the bag."

The third season of the Highgarden tournament was fast approaching, the next one on their agenda. It was planned to take place in two months. They were going to face some of the strongest teams in the world, but Jon was confident. As long as they continued practicing regularly, they'd be unstoppable.

"We done for today, captain?" asked Edd's voice over the headset, sounding like he was stifling a yawn.

Jon rolled his eyes at the nickname. He glanced at the time, realizing they'd been at it for hours already, "Yeah, we did well today," he said, mind made-up, "same time on Thursday."

One by one, everybody said their farewells and logged-off.

Jon's phone chose that precise moment to start ringing insistently. He glanced at the screen and his lips curved into a smile as he answered, "Cousin, long time no see."

"Hey there, Snow," said Robb Stark's voice from the other end of the line, "long time indeed."

"How are things over in Volantis?"

"Pretty good. Met this awesome girl, actually..."

Jon chuckled. There was always a girl when it came to Robb.

"- but I'm not actually in Volantis at the moment," he continued, "the semester ended just a few days ago, so I'm home for break."

"Sounds good," Jon got up from his chair and stretched his stiff muscles, "any chance we'll see you around here?" It'd been quite a while since he'd last seen his cousin.

"That's actually what I was calling about," replied Robb, "I was thinking of coming over to the city on Friday evening, seeing my favorite cousin."

Jon rolled his eyes, "You mean your _only_ cousin."

"That's what I said," Robb laughed, "So uh, speaking of girls... I heard you're rooming with DragonQueen," his voice turned teasing.

Jon frowned at his sly tone, "And where did you hear that?"

"Margaery may have texted and said you're roommates with her bestie. And that you two are getting along realllllyy well."

"You still speak to Marg? Didn't you guys break up? A _lot_?"

"Sure, we talk," Jon could almost hear him shrug over the phone, "we parted amicably."

"Which time?"

"Most times... so what's she like?"

"Marg?"

"No, Snow," said Robb, tone now exasperated, "your roomie."

"Oh," Jon scratched his head, feeling his face heating up at the thought of Dany, "She's... pretty great. We get along, we stream together sometimes."

"And hot?"

Jon sighed, "That what Marg said?"

"In these very words."

"Of course she did," muttered Jon. That sounded just like Marg. He could admit it to himself, at least. Dany being hot was the understatement of the century. She was fucking gorgeous. And he knew it for a fact now, after sneaking a peek at her literally naked body from behind a flimsy shower curtain.

"So? Is she?"

"Yes, _Stark_ ," Jon rolled his eyes at the phone again, "She's hot. Happy now?"

But before Robb had a chance to answer, Jon heard another voice from the other end of the line.

"SNOOOOW! What's that I hear? You're crushing on your new roommate?"

Jon groaned. He recognized the voice, "Hi Theon."

"Sorry," said Robb's sheepish voice, "I forgot to mention Greyjoy is here."

"So will your hot roomie be there on Friday too?" Theon's voice interrupted again.

"Does that mean you're also coming?"

"Sure thing, Snow, wouldn't miss it," Theon laughed.

"I guess it's a party. And as for Dany, I'll ask if she's interested in spending an evening with you goons," Jon said mildly.

"Arya said she might tag along too," piped up Robb, who might've shoved Theon out of the way to get back to the phone, "so she'll balance Greyjoy out."

"Fine," said Jon, "I'll provide the booze if you bring food."

"Deal. Around 20:00?"

"See you then." Jon disconnected the call and made his way out of his room to find some dinner. 

He wondered whether Dany would want to join them. She usually got the highest number of viewers on Friday nights, it was one of the best times to stream. He hoped she would make an exception because he really wanted her there. He had come to enjoy her company immensely. With her bright smile and easy humor, he knew his evening would be all the better for it.

He passed by Dany's room on the way just in time to hear her speak, presumably with her chat, "Ok guys, time for a dinner break, I'll be back in an hour or so."

A moment later, he heard the clutter of her headset on her desk and her door opened to reveal her petite form.

She looked stunning as usual. Today she was wearing black jeans under a tight blue top, which brought out her deep blue eyes. Jon idly wondered to himself when he started noticing such things.

"Hey," she smiled brightly at him, revealing her even white teeth, "how did practice go?"

"Really well, actually," Jon grinned at her as they slowly made their way into the kitchen. He loved how easy it had become speaking to her, spending time with her. They were actually friends, not just roommates. It made him feel light and happy, especially considering how his previous roommate situation ended. He genuinely liked her. He could even go as far as admitting to himself that Theon was sort of right when he said he had a little crush on her.

"Wanna order something?" asked Dany, after a glance at the fridge, which contained almost nothing but energy drink cans. Jon could almost roll his eyes at how cliché they were becoming in that regard. A pair of professional gamers living on takeout food and having nothing but GamerFuel in the fridge.

"Sure."

"Pizza?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

Jon milled about while Dany called in an order, marveling at the fact that she didn't even need to ask what he wanted. She already knew all his favorites.

"So uh-" he started when she put down the phone, "I'm having some people over Friday. Two of my cousins and a friend. Do you want to join us?"

He wasn't sure why, but he was feeling nervous all of a sudden, hoping she'd say yes.

She looked contemplative for a second, "By cousin you mean Robb?"

"Robb yes. And Arya, too. His little sister."

"Will Robb be ok with Margaery coming as well?"

"Sure, I think so," Jon shrugged, "he said they talk."

"Count me in," she smiled again and Jon was momentarily distracted by the way her eyes shone when she did. She was truly stunning. He hoped Theon wasn't going to put her off too much. He tended to be near sleazy with members of the opposite sex, especially the attractive ones. 

But then again, he reasoned with himself, Marg was pretty good at keeping him in check.

"Great." He gave Dany a smile and went to get drinking glasses out of the cabinet.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Dany raised her eyebrow at Jon's cart, which was stuffed full of beer cans and wine-coolers. They were at the local supermarket, buying all the necessities for the evening's "party". Apparently, Jon's idea of necessities was a whole lot of booze.

He noticed her looking and asked, "Think we got enough for everyone?"

"Well, that depends..." she drawled, "are we planning to have a drink with our friends or put them into an alcohol-induced coma?"

Jon rolled his eyes, an amused smile on his lips, "Robb and Theon can take a lot. And you know Marg can drink anyone under the table."

Dany giggled, "You're not wrong. Yeah, I think it's enough."

They got a few bags of chips and, at Dany's insistence, popcorn kernels.

"Trust me on this," she declared, grabbing a box and tossing it into Jon's cart, "I can make a mean caramelized popcorn."

Jon wrinkled his nose at the thought, "If you say so."

"Don't make that face at me," she returned in a mock-stern tone, wagging her finger at him, "remember how I introduced you to Yi-Tish, which is now your favorite cuisine?"

Jon chuckled, "Aye, you're right, no need to look so smug about it."

She grinned triumphantly as they made their way through the crowded isles.

"You know..." she said conversationally, "you never did get on your knees and thank me for it."

The teasing between them had taken a subtle turn in the last few weeks, Dany had noticed. The tone was slowly becoming more and more flirty. And if she were honest, it was giving her quite a thrill, a sort of tingle in the pit of her stomach. So she kept at it, even if her mind was trying to intervene by whispering it might not be a good idea to get this way with her roommate.

 _But friends could be like that, right?_ She reasoned to herself. It was all harmless good fun.

Jon quirked an eyebrow up and Dany felt that tingling in her stomach start anew at the spark in his eyes, "True," he said thoughtfully, tapping a finger on his lower lip, pretending to give the matter a lot of thought, "I just might... sometime."

Dany swallowed as the tingling sensation intensified.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


"Jonny!" The wiry guy Jon had said was Theon Greyjoy greeted when he entered the apartment, punching Jon on the shoulder in what Dany surmised was supposed to be a manly sort of greeting.

Jon scowled at him, "Call me that one more time, Theon..."

Theon laughed, "Fine, fine, don't get your knickers in a twist," he turned his gaze to her, "and who do we have here?"

Dany raised an eyebrow at his slimy tone. Margaery had forewarned her about Theon. Apparently he was all bark and no bite, though, trying to cover up his social awkwardness with a cocky demeanor.

"That's my roommate, Theon," Jon nudged him none-too-gently deeper into the living room, "don't be a sleazeball to her, please."

"Dany," she introduced herself shortly, going back to filling bowls with chips.

Robb and Arya Stark appeared in the doorway a second after, Robb giving Jon a quick hug and pat on the back, "Long time, cousin."

"Aye, too long" Jon grinned at him.

"Hey there, brother," Arya greeted with a smile, rolling her eyes when Jon pulled her into a hug as well, "Missed me, I see."

Dany smiled to herself, hiding her face behind her hair. Jon had confessed to her earlier that, from all his cousins, he was actually closest with Arya, rather than with Robb. She had always called him "brother", despite not technically being his sister.

Dany wiped her hands on her jeans and came forward to greet the guests. Marg was the last one to arrive, fashionably late, as usual.

Robb had several trays of pizza delivered and they spent a pleasant hour trying all the different flavors.

Jon almost burned a hole through his tongue, biting into a slice with Dornish hot peppers. He coughed and sputtered, downing half a can of beer in an attempt to soothe the burn.

"Seven hells, Robb, what is that?" he complained, to Margaery and Dany's giggles, his face red and sweaty.

Robb shrugged, laughing as well, "A new option on the menu, I didn't dare try it though, thanks for letting me know I should steer clear of it," he winked a Jon, who threw a cushion at him in retaliation.

"I suppose you two would do a better job of eating that," Jon scowled at Dany and Marg, but Dany could see the teasing quirk of his lips.

"Oh, nooo, I'm not falling for that," laughed Marg, "I'm sticking to my cheese pizza, thank you very much."

He turned his gaze to Dany with a raised eyebrow, a challenging spark shining in his eyes.

Dany pursed her lips at him. She slowly got up from her seat and plucked the remaining slice out of its cardboard box. She then took an exceptionally large bite to Jon's surprised stare. She held his gaze until swallowing, raising her arms up in triumph.

Marg whooped and laughed, "The DragonQueen can breathe fireeeee!"

She dimly heard Theon murmur, "That was strangely hot," but she paid him no mind because Jon was staring at her, appreciation in his eyes. 

"Impressive," he chuckled, raising his can to her, lips curling into a smile. She winked at him, plopping down next to Marg again, a wide grin on her face.

She caught Marg looking at her, a sly grin on her face.

"What?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, nothing," grinned Marg, sipping her own drink.

"Holy shit, Jon, your roomie got some fire," laughed Theon, "don't scare her off like you did Val."

"I didn't scare anyone off, thank you very much," retorted Jon, whose cheeks turned a bit pink.

Dany nudged Marg, eyebrow raised in question, "Who's Val?" she inquired quietly.

"Jon's previous roommate," Marg whispered back, "they used to have a thing," she shrugged, "according to Robb, anyway. Things didn't go well and she moved out, that's all I know."

"Right," Dany returned her gaze to her drink, her stomach suddenly twisting uncomfortably.

"She's also a gamer, you might have heard of her," Marg continued, oblivious to Dany's sour expression, "She goes by Valhalla."

"Yeah..." the name was vaguely familiar.

They'd been having a nice evening so far, Dany thought, sipping from her drink. Robb was a rather chatty one, she had discovered. At least he and Marg seemed to get along remarkably well for two people who used to date. They were trading jokes and quips and generally laughing about their past relationship.

She wasn't a big fan of Theon Greyjoy. He tended to boast a lot and she didn't particularly like the way he was looking at her. It unpleasantly reminded her of Daario. Marg did a good job of keeping him in check, however. Pointedly letting him know that he was being creepy. Dany would be eternally grateful to her for having her back.

Arya Stark came as a bit of a surprise. Apparently, she was a world-class fencing champion, who already had a few international awards under her belt. Robb had let slip they nicknamed her "Needle".

"You know Arya," Jon said conversationally, "we could've used your help the other day. There was this giant mutant spider in the... apartment and I had to kill it with my replica sword."

Marg sat up. Dany tried to sink into her seat, suddenly feeling as though the temperature in the room rose by a few degrees.

_Thank you for leaving my naked butt out of the story, you tool. Now steer the conversation AWAY from this please..._

Arya quirked an amused eyebrow up, "Now, most people would thrust directly from a quinte guard, but that leaves you open. Remember I showed you _attaque d'immobilité_ , brother?"

_Thank the gods for small favors._

When most of the food had been consumed, everyone was getting progressively drunker. Eventually, Margaery suggested a game of "Never have I ever."

"Bring it on," roared Theon, raising his beer can, nearly tipping it to spill all over himself.

"Alright then, I'll start," Marg declared, her voice somewhat louder than usual, "Never have I ever..." her sly gaze stopped on Robb, who looked suddenly wary, "... walked in on my parents having sex," she finished.

Robb groaned, taking a swig out of his beer and burying his head in his hands, "Thanks for reminding me of that, Marg," he whined.

Arya groaned loudly and covered her ears, Jon also made a face and a gagging noise, "Gods, I did not need that mental image, thank you very much, Marg," he said, shuddering.

"Just playing the game," she grinned, pointing at Robb with the end of her can, "you're up."

"Alright..." he turned his gaze to Theon, "Never have I ever been caught touching myself in the locker room."

"Ewwww, dude, gross," groaned Marg as Theon sheepishly took a sip from his beer.

"Hey, you can't blame me," said Theon defensively, "it was _right_ after the girls' swim practice, and-"

"By the Seven, Theon," Jon raised his finger mock-threateningly, trying to contain his laughter, "please stop talking."

"Ok, then, Snow," Theon wagged his eyebrows at him, "Never have I ever crushed on my roommate."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds as Jon stared at Theon with narrowed eyes. He then took a sip from his drink while Robb cleared his throat nervously.

Dany felt like acid was bubbling in her stomach, a bitter taste in her mouth. Seems that Marg was right about Jon and Val.

Marg nudged her shoulder with a sly grin, "Shouldn't you be drinking as well?" she teased in a whisper.

Dany just made a face at her, her enjoyment from the game all but gone.

The game continued for a little while longer, but the mood subtly changed in the room. Jon was still staring daggers at Theon and Dany was still smarting from the revelation that Jon had a crush on his former roommate.

The party finally came to an end around midnight when Marg announced she had an early class and had to go get some sleep. Theon, Robb and Arya left shortly after that.

Dany slowly got up from her seat and set about tossing the empty beer cans in the trash. She felt Jon's stare at the back of her neck but ignored him.

"Hey," he hesitantly spoke when she stuffed the cans into a large trash bag with a little more force than necessary, "everything ok?"

"Everything's fine," she answered without looking at him. He hovered uncertainly for a few more seconds, as if he was going to say something else, but then apparently changed his mind and went back to the living room to get the last of the empty bottles.

Dany finished with her part in the cleaning and shut herself up in her room.

She wasn't sure why she was even feeling angry and resentful. It's not like Jon did anything to her specifically. She supposed she was starting to enjoy the way things had become between them and now she wondered if it was the same for him with his previous roommate. And whatever roommates came before that. Maybe there was nothing special about it, maybe that's just Jon. Effortlessly friendly and flirty.

She felt too restless to go to sleep, so she fired up her PC and logged into the streaming platform.

**_< <Now playing: [Korn - Thoughtless](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVPvzX-AeSM)>>_ **

"Hi everyone," she said into the mic, impatiently brushing an errant lock out of her eyes, "unplanned late-night stream for you. Let's kick some arse."

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


_Fucking Theon,_ Jon thought darkly while slowly pulling off his clothes, getting ready for bed. He had to go and tease him for his little crush in front of fucking EVERYONE. In front of Dany.

And now she was aware he sort of kind of into her and it was obviously making her uncomfortable. She barely looked at him since Theon's little jape. 

He swore under his breath, running a hand through his hair in agitation. It's not like he was going to _do_ anything about it. She was still his roommate. Even if she were kind and sweet and into the same things as him and so fucking gorgeous it was sometimes difficult to keep his eyes off of her.

Jon groaned. He wanted to apologize to her, but he had no idea what to say that wouldn't make things even worse.

 _I'm sorry that Theon is a dick,_ didn't really feel like it would do any good.

He was too annoyed to go to bed just yet, so he turned his computer on, browsing the Dragonrider streams currently online, looking for something to watch.

He blinked in surprise when he saw Dany's stream on top of the list. He wasn't aware she was currently streaming, he thought she went to bed. He clicked on the stream window, pulling his headset on to listen.

She was currently engaged in a furious match, burning opposing team members left, right and center with carefully-aimed fireballs. He winced at the music blaring on the stream.

If he didn't think she was angry before, her choice of music certainly clued him into her current state of mind. _Great_. He fervently hoped it wasn't going to ruin their newfound friendship, the ease they developed around each other.

He leaned back in his chair, watching her as she streamed. Her execution was near flawless, as usual, but he could tell she was a bit on edge. She wasn't as interactive with the chat as she usually was and her face had an irritable, hardened expression on them.

Jon sighed, sincerely wishing for the hundredth time that he had never met Theon Greyjoy.

However, to Jon's relief, things between himself and Dany gradually went back to normal. After the initial awkwardness of the days following the party, things slowly went back to how they have been before.

It's been two weeks since the party, and he'd been careful to keep the flirting to a minimum, even if he missed the banter. The last thing he wanted was to make things awkward again.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


It's been two weeks since the party and Dany could feel her resentment abating somewhat. She begrudgingly admitted to herself that whatever happened between Jon and his former roommate had nothing to do with her. The truth was that she was ready to let it go, she'd missed the easy banter between Jon and herself, which had become more scarce since the party.

Jon had obviously felt something was amiss since he kept it to a minimum ever since then. 

Determined to get things back to the way thd were, Dany decided to turn to the easiest avenue to clear the atmosphere between herself and her roommate - gaming. And so, one late morning, when Jon dragged himself to the kitchen in search for coffee, she had tightened her hand on her coffee mug, biting her lip.

"Morning," she smiled at him over the rim of the mug.

He blinked at her, no doubt surprised about her easy tone. She had been pretty cold with him the past week after all, "Morning," he returned cautiously, "had a good stream last night?"

She shrugged, falling into their familiar rhythm, "It was fine. I think my chat misses you," she added teasingly and he grinned in response. _I miss you,_ she amended in her mind, feeling a dull pang in the vicinity of her heart.

"So what do you want to do about it?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, you know," she shrugged in mock-indifference, "we have to give the people what they want, I suppose."

"Guess so."

"So, uh-" she bit her lip, "I was thinking of playing some World of Valyria on-stream tonight. You game?"

"Oh," his eyes crinkled with a smile and he barked a laugh, "it's been forever, but sure, could be fun. What did you have in mind?"

"Hmm..." she nibbled on her lower lip, considering, "maybe some battlegrounds? Or dungeons?"

Jon scratched his beard absently, considering, "Battlegrounds, I think, if that's ok with you."

"Sure," she grinned. She was relieved that the awkwardness was gone, that they could fall back into their usual rhythm with ease, "usual time tonight?"

"You're on, DragonQueen," the teasing lilt was back to his voice and her heart fluttered with pleasure at the sound.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**_< <Now playing: [A Call to Arms - Tirion Fordring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXVmZuPOzU0)>>_ **

> __
> 
> _**ChatBot: DragonQueen stream is LIVE** _
> 
> _crowbird: yeyyyy_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: Hi DragonQueen :)_
> 
> _mrcactus: whalecum_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: funny 🙄_
> 
> _tandy_123: good evening evry1_
> 
> _sergio_gamer: collab w WhiteWolf 2nite rite_
> 
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> 
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> 
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> 
> _kakofony444: let's play!_
> 
> _mrcactus: can u play more of that adventure game plz? its so good_
> 
> _parzival3513: YES!!! The long night plz ty_
> 
> __

Dany pushed her hair out of her face, slipping the headset over her ears, "Something different tonight, guys," she said, "How do you feel about some World of Valyria?"

> __
> 
> _tandy_123: omg yes!! It's been 4ever_
> 
> _mrcactus: noooooo the long night :'( plzzzzz_
> 
> _happiorange: collab with WhiteWolf?_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: sounds like fun :)_
> 
> _th3one: bruh, last xpac was shite_
> 
> __

Dany was spared answering that because at that very moment, her Discord came to life with an incoming call from Jon.

"Hi there," he greeted once she answered, his northern timbre rough and warm in her ear, "everyone ready for some World of Valyria?"

> __
> 
> _jigsawgirl: Hi WhiteWolf :) <3_
> 
> _mekkatorque: LETS PLAYYYYYY_
> 
> _sadblueberriez: collabcollabcollab!!!!_
> 
> _kakofony444: yeeeeeey WOV_
> 
> _sergio_gamer: gogogogo_
> 
> _straberryfieldz12: OGOGOG_
> 
> __

Dany laughed, "My chat definitely seems to be. Let's roll."

They both logged into the game.

Once connected, Dany smiled at the scenery before her, hit by a wave of nostalgia. She was standing in front of The Jade Temple. A central hub of activity on the continent. She smiled fondly at the many turrets and towers, the windows sparkling in a merry jade-green.

World of Valyria (or _WOV_ , as most players called it) was the first game she played seriously, her first foray into professional gaming. She started during her time at university. When she felt weighed down by yet another boring class, when she was battling feelings of loneliness, she used to log into the game and get immediately, and literally, transported into another world. 

World of Valyria was the most popular massively-multiplayer online role-playing game in the world. One could spend hours, even days at a time, exploring the world. There was always something to do. She could always lose herself there, forget about reality for a time while battling monsters, mythical creatures, and other players.

She started spending increasingly long hours playing the game. She had honed her skills quickly, mastering her chosen character. Once she was sufficiently skilled and amassed enough top-range gear, she started participating in end-game content, the most challenging part of the game at the time, designed to be defeated by a group of players.

In the beginning, the groups she joined were made up of random players, gracelessly stumbling through the content. These excursions tended to end up, more often than not, with a lot of pointed fingers and, in some extreme cases, screaming matches on Discord. After a while, Dany managed to find an organized group made out of people slightly more mature than the average WOV player.

It was quite a rush.

She finally got to experience the "right" way of playing. This required a lot of strategy and pre-preparation, but the results were her reward. Her newfound team burned through the content at an impressive speed, soon becoming eligible for the highest-difficulty and infinitely more rewarding, content. She dove headfirst into it, devising her own strategy and instructing the other players to great effect.

Eventually, she was asked to take on the leadership of the team and gladly accepted. Under her guidance, they made remarkable progress and became well-known throughout the game's community worldwide for several world-first kills on new, extremely difficult bosses. To the point where sponsors began to contact her. This was when she decided to terminate her studies and made her first steps as a professional gamer.

It had been a good period of her life, she was finally happy, feeling as though she finally found what she was meant to do, realized what kind of career she had in mind for herself, at least for the time being. 

They'd had quite a few successes for a long time, participating in tournaments and winning awards, but Dany started becoming exhausted from the routine at some point. On top of that, the group slowly disintegrated, due to some of key players leaving. Dany felt that a change was in order.

That was when Dragonrider came out. When she received an early invitation to the closed beta and tried it out, Dany completely fell in love with the game.

After entrusting the leadership of her WOV team to an extremely skilled and competent fellow player, she switched to Dragonrider as her main game and never looked back. She was also glad to have a more laid-back style, focusing her time on streaming instead of competing professionally, and she found she liked the change of pace. It was liberating, making her own decisions, not having to accommodate an entire team's needs on a regular basis. She still enjoyed playing WOV from time to time, but on a more casual basis.

"So, where to first?" asked Jon's voice in her ear, shaking her from her reverie.

"Hmm.. how about The Jade basin?" she suggested, referring to one of the more enjoyable battlegrounds in the current expansion.

"Let's do it."

Battlegrounds were instanced areas used for player versus player (otherwise known as PvP) combat. A group of players competed for victory against another team of similarly skilled players from the opposite faction.

The entered the battleground waiting area, which was a rocky stretch of earth atop a large cliff. Once the horn sounded and the timer hit 0, the two of them sprung forth along with the rest of the group.

The goal of the battleground was to control locations, called 'resource nodes', on the map. Once a node was taken, it generated resources for the team controlling it. The first team to reach 1600 resources won the match.

"Which one do you want to take?" Dany asked, racing forward on her favorite dragon mount. Jon was riding a squeaky mechanical bird.

"Nice ride, WhiteWolf," she sniggered when the bird gave a particularly loud SQUAAAAWK. He chuckled and she felt the familiar flipping sensation in her stomach again.

"Which one shall we take?" he asked, referring to the resource nodes.

"Let's do the Blacksmith," suggested Dany. It was the furthest away node, it typically took either team a while to get there.

They zoomed away, beating all other players to the node. They immediately took control of it by planting the faction flag right in front of it.

Not a minute later, Jon's voice spoke in her ear again, "Heads up, here comes trouble."

"Trouble" was a group of 5 players from the opposing faction closing in on then. Once within range, they jumped off of their mounts, firing spells in their direction. Jon and Dany managed to take down three of them before they were both killed. They respawned at the edge of the waiting area and rushed back.

The game went back and forth for a while, but eventually, their team gained the upper hand, the match resulting in a win.

> __
> 
> _mekkatorque: CURBSTOMP LOL_
> 
> _kakofony444: only noobz go smith first_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: no stoppin the dynamic duo! :) <3_
> 
> _gri_gri42oo: ur the noob_
> 
> __

"More?" Dany asked after the match concluded, her cheeks flushed with excitement. It'd been forever since she'd done this, she had nearly forgotten how much fun it could be. Especially when having friendly banter with Jon while playing.

"Yep," he agreed enthusiastically, "some other bg maybe?"

"Sure."

They went through all the different battlegrounds, the one Capture the Flag style where the factions battled on capturing flags and delivering them to their base (first team to three wins), the one which was a giant messy battle-royal with 40 players per team and many more.

Dany barely felt the hours pass by and, upon glancing at the time, was startled to discover they've been playing for five hours straight. She yawned, only then realizing how tired she was, "Last one for tonight, perhaps?" she suggested.

"Yeah," said Jon softly in her ear. She couldn't help but smile. He sounded sleepy as hells.

The finished the current battleground, emerging back into the world.

"Alright, guys," Dany said, stifling another yawn, "I think that's enough for tonight. Thanks for joining me, WhiteWolf."

"Thanks for the invite, DragonQueen," she could hear his smile by the tone of his voice, "Good night, everyone!"

He disconnected and Dany pulled her headset off, her ears prickling at the sudden silence.

She also bade her viewers a good night and turned the stream and then PC off. She got up and stretched, stumbling out of her room to the kitchen to get some water. She'd been so high on adrenaline all evening that she even neglected to have her usual 2-3 cans of GamerFuel. That must be why she was feeling so damn exhausted all of a sudden.

She was sipping her water when Jon appeared in the doorway, his curls sticking out in every direction, running a hand over his tired eyes.

"Hey," he smiled, "that was a helluva evening, right?"

"Yeah," she smiled, tapping her fingers on her water glass, suddenly inexplicably nervous. It was disarming, Jon Snow with messy hair and sleepy eyes.

He got some water for himself and they drank in silence for a few seconds, not looking at each other. He finally pushed away from the counter and put his glass in the sink.

He started making his way out of the kitchen, "Good night, Dany."

She suppressed a shiver at the caress of his voice on her name, "Good night, Jon."

He left the kitchen and she couldn't help but wish he would stay, just a little while longer. But she didn't know what to say without it sounding strange, so she said nothing at all, eventually going back to her own room.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Jon rushed into his room and started flinging things around in a hurry. His phone was ringing but for the life of him, he couldn't remember where he left it. He tossed aside a dirty t-shirt, an energy bar wrapper and a rolled-up pair of socks when he finally located the device, which was fortunately still ringing.

It was his manager's name on the screen.

"Everything alright, lad?" inquired Davos' voice from the other end of the line, "you sound out of breath."

"Yes," Jon rolled his eyes, "just couldn't find the damn phone. What's up?"

"Good news," said his manager promptly, "I received a tournament invitation for you for two weeks from now."

"For me?" Jon asked, confused, "not the team? And what tournament? I don't recall anything before Highgarden."

"That's because it's for casting, not participating," clarified Davos, "it's an amateur tourney for college students."

That explained it. Jon's frown cleared and his heartbeat picked up speed in excitement. Casting was a relatively new avenue for him. He did a few events, here and there, before, but being invited to one out of the blue like that was usually good news. It meant that he could gain even more sponsorships and more attention, not just as a gamer but as a caster as well.

"I'm in," he said, grinning into the phone, "where is it?"

"Riverrun. Two days. Also, should you accept, they require you to join an online meeting with the organizers next week so they can explain about the tournament and what they expect from you."

"Yeah, no problem," replied Jon, his excitement mounting, "just tell them I accept and send me the details."

The line went momentarily silent and then Davos spoke again, "Well, there's just one more thing..."

Jon raised an eyebrow at the device, suspicious of Davos' hesitant tone, "What?"

"Well, you should know you won't be casting alone. There is one more caster who has already accepted, the two of you would be co-casting."

"Okay..." He wouldn't have a problem with it, Davos knew this. He had done it before, he had no qualms about doing it again. This made him think there was something else Davos had neglected to mention.

Unease settled in his stomach, "Who is it, Davos?"

"It's... WildGirl," answered Davos after a moment's hesitation.

Jon groaned.

 _Well, that's just great._ From all the gamers in all the world, his co-caster HAD to be his crazy ex-girlfriend. The most toxic and vindictive person he knew, who publicly accused him of cheating and who intentionally leaked private photos of him that were meant for her eyes only. He closed his eyes, trying to prevent his anger from spilling.

"So... does that mean you're changing your mind about accepting the offer?" asked Davos, sounding resigned.

"What? No. _Hells_ no. She's not taking that from me," Jon answered grimly, "I accept. I'll deal with her."

"Good to hear that, lad," replied Davos, sounding relieved, "I'll send you all the details tomorrow."

Jon hung up the phone with a sigh. This was going to be _interesting_.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**_< <Now playing: [Bryan Adams - Summer Of '69](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFjjO_lhf9c)>>_ **

It was hot. So fucking sweltering hot. Jon raised his arm to wipe his sweaty forehead for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

The apartment, which he considered a near-perfect place to live most of the time, had one huge flaw in that it had no air conditioning.

It wasn't usually a big issue. Keeping the windows wide-open generally let enough breeze to flow in to ease the heat. But this heatwave was something out of the seven hells themselves. He was reasonably sure he was melting, the fabric of his gaming chair sticking uncomfortably to the skin of his legs at the spot where his shorts ended. He had to repeatedly lift his hand from the mouse to wipe his sweaty palm on his pants.

He'd been streaming for an hour and already felt like he was dying. The close proximity to the PC, which emitted heat like a fan from hell, was NOT helping.

He finished his current match and quit the game, "Sorry, guys," he wearily said into the mic, "I'm fucking dying here, I'm going to take a long break, I'll be back in an hour or so if I don't die of heatstroke."

His viewers were not happy.

> __
> 
> _spiffy: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO_
> 
> _im_really_ok: :'(_
> 
> _queen_miarose: WhiteWolf don't gooooo :(_
> 
> _capn_obvious: its getting hot in heeeeere so take off all your clothes_
> 
> _spiffy: hahahahaha_
> 
> _magnetix9901: yah take off ur clothes 😏_
> 
> _im_really_ok: hes gonna get banned lol_
> 
> _eleventeen111: banned again u mean lmao_
> 
> _queen_miarose: Oo_
> 
> _im_really_ok: he was banned b4?_
> 
> _dragonrider_gaming_sunflower: KEK_
> 
> _alex_s001: he was banned for getting nekkid on stream b4 lolol_
> 
> _im_really_ok: rly??? Oo link or never happened_
> 
> _**WhiteWolf** : I wasn't naked, you guys_
> 
> _queen_miarose: yes link xD_
> 
> __

Jon grimaced when he remembered _that_ incident. It was another hot day. He was sprawled in his seat, streaming Dragonrider, when at one point, not thinking much about it, he raised the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead, briefly exposing his bare chest to the camera.

The chat had nearly exploded then, comments coming so fast that they merged into one big blur on his screen. They ranged from "OMG" to "I SAW A NIPPLE LOLOL" and all the way to "TKE IT OFF BB". There were some other, more lewd comments, that resulted in an immediate ban by the moderator bots.

He didn't think much of it, then. Just told his viewers to settle down while he kept on playing.

The next day, he woke up to discover that the streaming platform had given him a 3-day ban, informing him via a dry email that he "violated the terms of agreement of using the streaming platform" and that all streamers were forbidden from engaging in "indecent exposure" while using said platform.

 _Indecent exposure_ , he thought darkly, you'd think he swung his junk at the camera or something. Personally, he thought it was ridiculous. It was fine to prance around wearing a sleeveless top and gym shorts, but gods forbid he shows a nipple on stream.

To make matters worse, he found out later that a viewer managed to capture that bit of the stream using a video capture tool and uploaded it to youtube. That video went viral, his inbox near exploded with messages for days on end afterwards. Some of the comments people left on the video made him furiously blush.

The only good part was that _the incident_ had eventually earned him a multitude of new subscribers. His team members had endlessly teased him about it.

But he was still smarting from the loss of 3-day ad-revenue on his stream and the threat of the ban becoming permanent should something like that ever happen again. So ever since then, he was extra careful not to expose even a sliver of his stomach or chest to the camera.

He went out of his room, intent on getting a cold drink from the kitchen. He stepped inside just to freeze when he saw Dany standing there. She was leaning over the counter, holding a can of drink in her hand, pressing it to her cheek with her eyes closed.

He gulped. She was wearing a tight tank top, which left her back bare and made it obvious she wasn't wearing a bra, and tiny barely-there shorts. _Looking this good surely should be illegal._

She must've heard his footsteps because she raised her head, running a hand through her hair, which was piled on top of her head in a messy bun. A few damp tendrils had escaped it to fall around her face. She gave him a small smile.

"Hey," she said, taking a swig from her canned drink, "fucking hot today, isn't it?" she stretched, curving her back, which pushed her breasts forward, straining against the thin fabric of her top. He could see her nipples poking out. 

Jon was suddenly feeling even hotter and sweatier than before.

He quickly averted his eyes and turned to open the fridge. He hid his face behind the open door, trying to get his breathing under control, willing the twitching in his shorts to subside before he greatly embarrassed himself in front of her. He pulled out a can and slowly closed the door again.

"Yeah," he replied awkwardly, hoping the redness of his cheeks would be attributed to the heat, "it's not usually this bad."

She regarded him for a moment, nursing her drink, "Are you still streaming?" she finally asked.

He shrugged, "Sort of, on a long break. My room is hot is hell, I'm not sure I can manage sitting next to the PC right now."

She laughed, the sound sweet to his ears, "I hear ya, I think I'll go take a bath, I feel like I'm gonna melt if I keep sitting in my room."

He just nodded and she smiled, finished her drink, and walked out of the kitchen. Shortly after she disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. He made a valiant effort to avoid imagining her pulling her clothes off behind the closed door.

He failed miserably.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Later, lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling, he was unable to sleep. He hated to admit it, but his thoughts strayed back to Dany and to and the way she looked that day, wearing that top, wearing those shorts. He felt like an absolute pervert trying to imagine her completely and deliciously naked. He already had quite a nice mental image to start with, after all.

He rolled to his side, burying his face in the pillow, groaning in frustration. His traitorous mind and body just wouldn't let him be. He was rock-hard, hot, and uncomfortable, and there was no way he could sleep in this state. He sighed, flinging the thin blanket off of himself, settling comfortably on his back.

Jon slid his hand down, slipping it under his boxer-briefs to grasp himself. He then closed his eyes, going back to the day he glimpsed Dany in their bathroom, wrapped in nothing but a shower curtain.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOV is very obviously [World of Warcraft](https://worldofwarcraft.com/). You guys caught that, right? ;)  
> Those of you who actually played may have recognized the battlegrounds I mentioned.


	5. Watch Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _You better kick arse 2night, I'll be watching :)_
> 
> _So you like watching me, huh? ;)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys,
> 
> Here we go again ^^ As I mentioned before, a more relaxed posting schedule, but I'm still going strong ;)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> P.S. I highly recommend watching the [HoTS cinematic trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ecv0bT9DEo) ("Now playing" link within the chapter), so you'll know what I'm talking about. Blizzard trailers are always awesome.

"Have you heard about the Dragonrider Riverrun tournament?"

They were having dinner together, as usual. Yi-Tish this time, which had become Jon's favorite.

Dany scrunched her eyebrows together as she chewed, "No. Should I have?"

"Probably not," Jun shrugged, pulling the box of sesame noodles towards himself, "it's an amateur tourney. I've been asked to cast it, though."

"Good for you, did you accept?"

Jon grinned, "Yep, going there next week."

"Great," Dany smiled, expertly fishing out another spring roll with her chopsticks, "you should bring me something," she declared with a teasing grin.

He laughed, "Like what?"

"Hmm... I donnow. What do they have in Riverrun?"

"Rivers?"

Dany rolled her eyes, playfully poking him with her chopsticks, "Funny."

"Only one shitty thing, though," Jon shook his head ruefully.

Dany raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"I have to co-cast with my ex-girlfriend," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh," Dany said. He glanced at her to see _something_ flickering over her face. It was replaced a second later by an unreadable expression, "- you mean WildGirl?" she blurted.

"Uh.. yes," he said slowly, trying to remember if he ever mentioned his ex to her. He couldn't recall. He never talked about Ygritte if he could help it, as the end of their relationship left a sour taste in his mouth.

"... You know about her?" he inquired.

He saw a faint pink flush spread over Dany's cheeks.

"Erm, she might have been mentioned in your Wikipedia page," she admitted with an embarrassed grin, "I may have looked up your info before I moved here."

He chuckled, seizing the opportunity to tease her about it, "I see. First my wiki page, then my gym series, huh?" he said, raising an eyebrow, "careful, or I'll start thinking you're stalking me, DragonQueen."

She rolled her eyes at him again, "Oh please. Don't pretend you didn't look me up when you knew I'd be your roommate."

It was his turn to blush and Dany let out a triumphant, "A-ha, I knew it!"

"Shut up, you. It’s called due diligence," he muttered, trying and failing to suppress his flustered smile. It was true, he had looked her up once she and Marg left that day. He was curious.

Dany just cackled, plucking the sesame noodles box out of his hand to treat herself to another helping. For a moment there, it looked like she was about to say something else, chewing her lip nervously, but then she just returned her gaze back to her food.

Once they both had their fill, they set about putting the leftovers in the fridge and the empty boxes in the trash.

Jon absently walked over to the fridge, intent on getting an energy drink when Dany turned around abruptly, nearly slamming into him in the cramped space.

She let out a surprised squeal and he hastily raised his arms to grab her shoulders, steadying her.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, "I was going for a GamerFuel."

"Yeah, no worries." He watched the rise and fall of her chest, her breathing seemed to have sped up. He belatedly realized he still had his hands on her shoulders. He hastily dropped them, his face flaming. He stepped back with another muttered apology to let her move past him.

She gave him a quick smile and retreated to her room. After a few seconds, he heard her chatting to her viewers.

He wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and went back to his room to continue his own stream.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Jon shifted his backpack on his shoulder, rubbing at his stiff neck. He was standing in the busy Riverrun airport, looking for a sign to direct him to a place he might be able to get a taxi to his hotel. He finally located it and made his way there.

He stepped out of the terminal and into the weak sunlight, raising his hand to signal a waiting cab. It crawled slowly in his direction.

He opened the door, flinging his bag inside and hopping in right after it.

"Where to, mate?" the driver inquired.

"RiverView hotel," he replied to the guy, who nodded and started navigating the car away from the curb. Jon switched off flight-mode on his phone, which was immediately flooded with messages. Some were from his teammates, and one each from Robb and Arya. He stopped scrolling when he noticed Dany's name on the list.

He curiously opened the message, lips curling into a silly smile when he saw the content.

_Dany: You better kick arse 2night, WhiteWolf, I'll be watching :)_

He chuckled to himself, chest expanding with warmth. 

He wished she could be there with him. The day he had mentioned to her that he was going to cast the tournament, he was on the verge of asking if she wanted to tag along. He'd lost his nerve at the last moment. He was still wary of saying anything to her that could cause the awkwardness between them to make an appearance again and he wasn't sure how to ask without it sounding weird.

And, if he were honest with himself, he preferred to keep her far away from Ygritte. He was keen on avoiding any drama, and Ygritte was sure to be bitchy to any attractive female that was even a little bit friendly with him. It was her usual MO while they were dating and he had no reason to believe she would stop now, not after what she did, with how things ended between them.

But then again, maybe enough time had passed. Maybe they could finally be civil with each other. Maybe seeing her again wasn't going to be as bad as he feared.

He reclined in his seat, watching the scenery outside the window.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


He gave his name to the receptionist at the hotel, who was clicking buttons at the computer, looking for his reservation. 

The man located it after only a few seconds, handing him a keycard, "Here you go, sir, third floor," he indicated with his arm to the right, "the elevators are around the corner, just past the lobby."

Jon thanked him, hoisted his backpack back on his shoulder, and started making his way towards the lift, the sound of his footsteps muffled by the plush carpet. He was only a few meters away from the elevator when a voice caused him to stop dead in his tracks, "Hi there, Wolfy."

He hated that nickname. Only one person ever called him that. He turned around, his hand tightening around the strap of his bag, "Hello, Ygritte."

There she was, in the flesh. Ygritte "WildGirl" Wilde, his ex-girlfriend. She was standing there, hands on her hips, smiling at him. Her fiery-red hair was twisted into an elegant bun at the back of her neck and she was wearing a dark pair of jeans and a tight green t-shirt with the Dragonrider logo emblazoned on the front.

She stepped closer and, to his surprise, enveloped him in a quick hug, "It's good to see you again," she said warmly.

He awkwardly patted her on the back, still wary. To say their last encounter didn't go well would be an understatement. He'd been furious about the stunt she had pulled with the pictures.

_"I had nothing to do with it," she had sneered at him, face twisted into an ugly look, "must be one of the other girls you sent them to."_

_He remembered raking his hand through his hair in agitation, his rage boiling over, "There hasn't been anyone else and you know that perfectly well," he had returned angrily, pissed that she decided to turn the tables on him when he'd done nothing wrong._

_"I know no such thing," she had angrily retorted._

He carefully extricated himself from her embrace, "How have you been?" he asked politely. Might as well try to be pleasant. He had to work with her, after all, and it would be best for everyone if they weren't hostile to each other.

"Good, good," she smiled, "I'm in a different team now, all-female, we get a lot of sponsorships."

"Sounds great..." 

She sounded sincere. Maybe they could really put all the unpleasantness between them to rest, that would be a welcome change.

"So, want to go over the plan for tonight?" she suggested, gesturing towards a small table in the corner of the lobby. He saw she already had her laptop and a coffee mug perched on it.

"Yeah, ok," he agreed, "I'll drop my bag in my room and come down in a minute."

"I'll be waiting," she smiled back and went back to her table.

Jon went over to the lifts, taking one up to his floor.

His room was nice, nicer than most hotel rooms he stayed at. There was a large double bed, a tiny kitchen area with a coffee maker, kettle, and some teabags, and a spacious bathroom. Rooms for casters were usually paid for by the tournament management, who tended to try and cut costs. Davos must've insisted on an upgrade. He made a mental note to thank him for it.

He used to do this a lot, stay in hotels, in the earlier days of The Night's Watch. When they had just started trying to make a name for themselves in the e-sports scene, they competed in many small tournaments. That was before they were noticed by the bigger sponsors, which meant they often stayed in shared rooms in cheap motels. They used to stay up half the night talking strategy, too nervous and excited to sleep.

In many ways, his current situation was an upgrade. But Jon still retained a fond sense of nostalgia to the early days. He was missing the sort of excitement that came with it. He did not miss trying to sleep while Edd snored on the bed next to his, however. He briefly wondered what it would be like sharing a room with Dany. Or sharing a _bed_ with her. He felt a pleasent shiver coursing through his body at the thoughts, which were quickly going down a dangerous path. He mentally shook himself. Unfortunately, he had things to do.

He dropped his bag on a small desk that was standing flush against the wall, in front of the bed. He then plopped down on the bed and laid back, thumbing through the messages on his phone again. He stopped at the one from Dany, heart palpitating embarrassingly fast.

He bit his lip, trying to think of an apt response. After a few minutes, he smiled to himself, tapping quickly.

_Jon: So you like watching me, huh? ;)_

His finger hesitated for a moment over the "Send" button before finally clicking it, his cheeks flushing a bit. He hoped it wasn't too flirty.

He stuffed the phone back in his pocket and went back to his backpack, pulling his gaming laptop out of it.

It was a state-of-the-art one, the only computer he liked playing on when he was away from his beloved rig. It had a pretty impressive spec for its size, with extra memory and the fastest processor available. As the only gaming gear he had that wasn't bought and paid for by a sponsor, Jon had a particlar fondness to it.

He lifted it carefully, depositing it under his arm, grabbed his keycard, and left the room, making his way back to the lobby.

He joined Ygritte at her table, sliding into a seat across from her. She smiled at him, then spoke into the headset perched on her head.

"You're in for a treat, everyone, look who just joined me." She then turned her laptop towards him so that he was facing the tiny webcam fixed into it.

He hadn't realized she was streaming. He was annoyed at being pushed in front of the camera without even being asked if he minded, but he swallowed his anger and plastered a smile on his face, waving at the camera, "Hi there."

She flashed him a grin and turned the laptop back, "Yes, it is WhiteWolf," she laughed, probably responding to messages in the chat, "No, we're not back together," she rolled her eyes at the camera, "we're co-casting the Riverrun invitational, is all, I have mentioned it before," she explained, still grinning, twirling a loose lock of hair around her finger, "yes, we were good together," she nodded in agreement, eyes still fixed on her screen.

Next to her, Jon tried mightily to suppress his incredulous scowl, _Good together? In what fucking universe?_

Things had been good at the start, or so he thought at the time, anyway. It had taken him a while to see how vindictive and mean she could be. He only fully realized it at the very end of the relationship.

But he said nothing, impatiently waiting for her to conclude the stream. She did after a few more minutes of banter with her chat.

"Ok, guys, we have tournament duties to attend to now," she announced, "See you guys later," she blew a kiss at the camera and switched the stream off. 

She turned her gaze on him, smiling again, "Want anything to drink before we start? They have really good coffee here," she gestured vaguely towards one of a waiter who was standing at the edge of the lobby.

"I'm good, let's get to it," Jon replied, opening his laptop.

They spent the next hour going everything related to the evening's cast, the opening and closing lines, the sponsor messages and main talking points. At some point, Jon's stomach rumbled with hunger, having eaten nothing but energy bars all day. 

Ygritte suggested they go get lunch and Jon reluctantly agreed. He was still wary of her suddenly overfriendly demeanor. This was not the Ygritte he remembered. His concern seemed to be unwarranted, however, as they spent an unusually pleasant time having burgers and fries in a small joint right outside the hotel.

"This is really good," he muttered, picking up another crispy, perfectly salted fry.

Ygritte grinned, "I know, right? I've been here since yesterday and discovered this place. I knew you'd like it."

Jon made a non-commital "mmm" as he pulled out his phone, quickly typing. He snapped a picture of his plate and sent a message to Dany.

_Jon: Next time you're in Riverrun, you have to try this._

Ygritte watched him, tapping her fingers on her soda cup.

"Who're you texting?" she asked casually.

"Oh, uh- just my roommate," he muttered, not wanting to get into it, "she'll like this stuff."

"Oh." He glanced up to see something flitting over Ygritte's face, but it was gone so fast he thought he might've imagined it.

They finished their meals shortly after and made their way back to the hotel.

Jon went back to his room, intent on getting some rest before the evening's tournament. He set an alarm on his phone as not to accidentally sleep through the thing, pulled off his clothes and, clad only in his underwear, collapsed on the bed.

  


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Jon woke up groggy when his alarm beeped insistently. He turned it off and stumbled to the shower. The steady stream of water managed to revive him quite effectively. Once sufficiently awake, he wrapped a towel around his waist and made his way back to the bedroom. He dropped the towel and rummaged in his backpack for clean underwear and a pair of jeans. 

Next, he pulled on the t-shirt provided to him by the tournament organizers. It had "Riverrun invitational" printed on the front and the logos of the various tournament sponsors on the back. It was a bit tighter than he liked, uncomfortably narrow around the shoulders. Probably a size too small.

He picked up his phone to check the time and saw that he had two new messages. A smile formed on his lips when he saw they were from Dany.

He opened the first one.

_Dany: Oh, I'm the one who likes to watch? I wasn't the one staring at you wearing nothing but a shower curtain... just sayin'_

He laughed out loud at that, cheeks heating at the memory. That mental image of her had been starring in his fantasies increasingly often of late. He was sorely tempted to continue this teasing banter. If only he didn't have to get going in a minute. He sighed and opened the next text.

_Dany: Looks good, we'll have to plan a roadtrip to Riverrun soon then ;)_

Jon felt his heart skip a beat at her comment. He wasn't 100% sure she really meant it but the prospect was immensely appealing. He didn't dare entertain the thought that maybe... maybe his crush wasn't as one-sided as he initially believed.

It was confusing, but also exhilarating. He was seized by a mad desire to call her. But he really REALLY had to go or he'd be late. _Later_ , he thought, pulling his shoes on and grabbing his keycard on his way out the door.

A 10-minute taxi ride later and he was at the venue. He hurried inside. The guard at the entrance recognized him and waved him in. Upon entering the place, he immediately spotted Ygritte, who was chatting to a young man in a dress shirt and black slacks. He recognized him. Gendry Waters, one of the tournament organizers.

Gendry saw him coming in and waved him over, "Hiya WhiteWolf," he said, vigorously shaking his hand, "nice seeing you again." They had "met" online the week before when going over the casting of the tournament.

"Yeah, you too," replied Jon, returning the handshake.

"We don't have a lot of time," said the man, ushering them over to a large table standing at the center of the stage. The table was adorned with a large banner featuring the tournament name and the Dragonrider logo, "you two will be stationed here."

The competing teams had their PCs stationed at either side of the table, the players already sitting in their spots, most of them looking nervous. Both team captains seemed to be giving last-minute pep-talks or strategy recaps, Jon couldn't quite make out what they were saying over the ambient noise.

There was an excited chatter from the audience. Many started cheering wildly when they saw the two of them. Ygritte smiled brightly, waving at the crowd, which resulted in catcalls and yet more applause.

Gendry motioned to someone, and a young woman stepped forward, holding two cordless headsets. She handed one each to Jon and Ygritte and stepped back, disappearing through a narrow door.

"Alright," said Gendry, quickly making sure all was in order, "You're all set. All good?"

Jon grinned and nodded, feeling the excitement flooding in his veins.

"Ok, great," he clapped them both on the shoulders, "We start in 10 minutes, you can see the countdown on the screen there," he pointed, "Good luck!"

With that, he strode away, leaving them alone.

Ygritte smoothed back her hair, grinning at him, "Ready?"

"Think so," he replied, his eyes scanning the crowd. He saw some banners with his own name on them and shook his head in exasperation, feeling slightly mortified, "I'm not even competing," he muttered, nodding at the banner, which included an enlarged version of his white wolf avatar.

Ygritte laughed, following his gaze, "I wouldn't be surprised if some of them came here just to see you," she said, her voice suddenly lower, casting him a glance. Jon glanced back, feeling a tad uncomfortable at the look in her eyes. He looked away again, focusing on the countdown timer.

It was almost time.

**_:: 00:04:13 ::_ **

  


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Dany answered the door, accepting the pizza from the delivery guy. She went back to her room, placing the steaming cardboard box on her bed. She hastened to the kitchen, plucking a drink can out of the fridge.

Everything was ready. 

She was going to watch the Riverrun Invitational while having dinner. She didn't plan to, originally, but it all changed when Jon told her he'd be casting. This would be the first time she saw him casting, there was no way she was gonna miss it.

She opened the streaming site, navigating to the official tournament page. Currently, it just had a "Riverrun Invitational - The College Edition" banner and a countdown timer, indicating that the stream was about to start in about 9 minutes.

She opened her pizza box, grabbing a slice. She chewed absently while fiddling with her phone, waiting for the stream to start. She smiled at Jon's latest text.

_Jon: So you like watching me, huh? ;)_

She had been on the verge of replying with _"Especially when you're wearing nothing but undies and a sword"_ earlier when she received it but lost her nerve at the last second. She ended up answering with something more demure instead.

Lately, she'd been getting a fluttering, excited sensation in her stomach whenever they got like this. When they got this flirty. Because it felt like things were shifting between them. She wasn't quite sure she was correctly interpreting the signs, often worrying she might be misreading him. But... it didn't feel like she was wrong about this. It felt like Jon Snow was... into her.

It was scary and exciting and she had a hard time keeping her thoughts from constantly straying back to him. He hadn't answered her last texts, but she figured he was busy. The tournament was about to begin.

On her screen, the stream countdown timer reached 0 and the display darkened for a moment. A few seconds later, the screen lit up with the trailer for the latest Dragonrider expansion. Dany leaned back in her chair, holding another pizza slice, her feet propped up on her desk.

The trailers were always so well done. The CGI was impressive and the music, written solely for the game, was often nothing short of epic.

**_< <Now playing: [Heroes of the Storm™ Cinematic Trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ecv0bT9DEo)>>_ **

The screen darkened again when the trailer ended, and when the lights came back on, it was Jon's face that appeared on the screen, a smile stretching his lush lips.

He was wearing a black t-shirt sporting the tournament logo and his usual jeans. The shirt was stretched tightly over his muscled chest and shoulders. It made Dany feel as though the temperature in the room rose by a few degrees just by looking at him.

The hovering text next to him identified him as "Jon _WhiteWolf_ Snow".

Dany couldn't suppress a smile of her own when she looked at him. She then slid her eyes to the girl standing by his side.

Ygritte _WildGirl_ Wilde. Jon's ex.

Her fire-red hair looked like it was professionally styled, pinned up on one side of her head and falling in soft waves about her shoulder on the other. She was wearing a t-shirt identical to Jon's, though with a more feminine cut and a dark green skirt. She had clear, pale skin and bright green eyes. 

Dany had to begrudgingly admit to herself that Jon's ex-girlfriend was beautiful. She shook the wave of jealousy that momentarily engulfed her. She's just his ex, she told herself firmly, one that he was dreading even working with. Maybe it was just the jealousy talking, but Dany thought she looked mean.

"Good evening and welcome to the very first Riverrun Invitational - College edition," Jon announced from the screen. The camera cut to a view of the audience, most of them cheering loudly and waving signs and banners.

"I am WildGirl and this is WhiteWolf," the girl spoke next, smiling into the camera, "and we are very excited to be here tonight. We have some great matches coming up."

They went on to present the teams that will be competing and outline the format of the tournament. Dany leaned back in her seat, chewing on her pizza while watching.

After a while, she noticed that Ygritte seemed to be very... _touchy_ with Jon. She often placed a hand on his shoulder or grabbed his arm while chatting about the different strategies used by the competing teams. Jon either didn't notice or pretended he didn't. Dany narrowed her eyes, irritably tapping her fingers on her desk, wishing Jon would tell the girl to keep her fucking hands to herself.

_Or maybe_ , she thought, her stomach clenching uncomfortably, _maybe he was actually enjoying it._

"In world-class matches, it's often possible to predict what strategy a team would use, sometimes even as much as ten minutes into the match," Ygritte explained on the screen, "since there often is a mathematical near-perfect strategy," she flipped her hair over her shoulder, smiling at Jon, "isn't that right, WhiteWolf?"

"Yes, indeed," he said, nodding his agreement, "however, in this kind of amateur tourneys, there is a lot more room for creativity," he grinned, glancing at the players, "their choice of strategy often surprises me as well. We are likely to see unexpected moves, twists, and exotic strategies tonight. Should be a very interesting evening, Wildgirl."

"And he's a difficult one to surprise," said Ygritte, winking coyly at the camera, "trust me on this."

Dany glowered at the screen when Ygritte's hand brushed over Jon's shoulder.

  


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"Do you _see_ that?" chirped Ygritte excitedly, her hand circling his wrist, "Team LionsMane is using the Lone Wolf strategy in this match. It's a classic maneuver that was popularized by... well, by _you_ , WhiteWolf," she gave him a wide smile.

"Aye," he cracked a faint smile, trying to discreetly free his hand from her clutch. She'd been touching him. A lot. Not too much to make it look weird to the camera, but just enough to make him uncomfortable. There was nothing he could do as long as they were live-streaming, though. 

"Lone Wolf is a strategy in which one team member gathers resources for the team, while the rest keep the opposing team occupied," he explained for the benefit of the viewers that weren't familiar with it, "this maneuver is especially good in this map since it contains a large number of terrain elements that can obscure a player, making it difficult for the enemy team to locate them. However, it is risky as you can lose those crucial first team fights due to being 4v5. We’ll see if DMT-Essos catches on to what’s happening..."

They continued in this manner for another hour and finally, it was time for a break.

"We're going to take a 10-minute break," Jon announced when Gendry signaled at him, "see you in a bit."

"Ok, you're off the air," said the cameraman standing behind the camera right in front of them. The display on the large overhead screen had morphed into yet another Dragonrider video, this time gameplay footage from the latest expansion.

Jon removed his headset, placing it on the table. A PA rushed over to them, handing them bottles of water. Jon murmured his thanks, drinking deeply. He hadn't realized just how thirsty he was. Beside him, Ygritte was doing the same.

She plopped herself down on one of the gaming chairs stationed by the table, "Great matches so far, huh?" she asked enthusiastically, "and that Lone Wolf strategy, must make you proud to see others use it," she winked at him.

"Yeah..." Jon scratched his beard awkwardly. He wasn't quite sure how to say _Can you please stop touching me so much_ without making things awkward. _It's only two days,_ he reasoned to himself, and then it would be done and he won't have to see her again. No point making things weird now. They both milled about while waiting for the break to end, chatting about the more exciting moments of the tournament so far.

  


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Once the tournament concluded for the evening, Jon hurried out to catch a ride back to the hotel. He hailed a cab and hopped inside. Ygritte suggested that they do a little late-night stream together, but he refused, lied about being exhausted, and slipped away while she chatted with some of the competing team members.

During the short car-ride, he pulled out his phone and quickly typed a message back to Dany, a silly smile plastered on his lips as he did.

He couldn't wait to be back home. He had a feeling they were on the verge of _something_. Something new and exciting. And he couldn't wait to find out what it was.

  


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Dany opened her second energy drink can, frowning at the screen. The first part of the tournament had just concluded for the evening and the two leading teams announced. They were to compete tomorrow in the finals. The screen now showed an overview of the event venue, focusing on the cheering crowd, which was getting ready to leave.

During the entire fucking stream, Ygritte couldn't seem to keep her hands to herself. The cherry on top was when she wrapped her bony arm around Jon's shoulders and planted a kiss on his cheek at the very end of the cast.

Dany refused to believe Jon hadn't noticed or cared. It was too fucking obvious. She wondered if him saying he was dreading seeing his ex again was all an act. Maybe he'd been looking forward to it.

A few minutes later, her phone beeped. She glanced at the screen to see a new message from Jon.

_Jon: I don't know what you're talking about. I was staring at the spider. Were you naked? I didn't even notice.._

Another message came in right after it.

_Jon: and a roadtrip sounds like fun :)_

Dany moodily tossed the phone back on her bed. The flirty messages, which made her feel warm and excited before, were now just contributing to the unpleasant clenching sensation in her stomach, wondering if Jon was being just as flirty with his ex.

  


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"Thank you, everyone, for joining us in this year's Riverrun tournament, it's been truly a blast," declared Ygritte, smiling to the camera.

"Don't forget to log into the tournament website for exclusive interviews with the winning team," Jon continued, reciting the required text, "and congrats again to the winning team. We hope to see you all again in future tournaments, thank you and good night!"

The noise from the crowd was deafening, and the cameras were blessedly turned off. Jon yawned, pulling off the headset, which started feeling as though it fused with his head. He wished he could just go back to his room and hole up in it for the night, but there was to be an after-party and Davos requested he attended it. It was supposedly good PR for the team.

"You're coming to the party tonight, right?" Ygritte inquired, walking alongside him out of the venue.

"Yeah, I'll make an appearance," he said hastily, "I gotta make a call," he lied, "see you there." He thought he saw her scowl lightly when he stepped away.

  


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Jon flashed his badge at the guard and shuffled into the venue where the party was taking place.

The cavernous room was lit with multitudes of differently-colored lights, most of which originating from the large screens hanging all around it. Most of the screens featured footage from the tournament itself, while others showed Dragonrider trailers and gameplay videos.

There was loud music playing, which Jon recognized as the piece playing in Dragonrider's original trailer.

He moved deeper inside, looking around for familiar faces. He spotted some of the winning team members and started making his way towards them when he heard someone call his name.

"Hey, Jon," he turned around and saw Gendry hurrying towards him, grinning.

"Hi again," he shook the man's hand.

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something..." he let Gendry drag him away. He spent the next twenty or so minutes chatting with the guy, who wanted to know whether Jon might be interested in more casting jobs in the future.

"I'd have to see how it fits into my schedule," explained Jon, "I still have team practices and tournaments I'm actually competing in."

"Of course, of course," Gendry nodded in agreement, "I'll give your manager a call when I have more concrete offers for you, then."

"Yeah, sounds good." Gendry then shook his hand again and walked off.

Jon decided to make his way towards the open bar when he was accosted by a group of excited fans who were given passes to the after-party through various promotions and contests. For the next hour, he patiently posed for selfies and answered questions about Dragonrider, his streams, and his e-sports team.

"Are you still dating WildGirl?" one of the girls asked, glancing over his shoulder. Jon followed her gaze to see Ygritte also surrounded by a group of fans.

"Uh- no, we're just co-streaming this event together," he said hastily, quick to dispel any notion that they were back together in any shape or form.

"What about DragonQueen?" piped another one, "Are you guys dating?"

"She's just my roommate," replied Jon automatically, hoping his cheeks weren't turning pink at the thought of Dany, wondering when why they were asking about his dating life instead of something _anything_ e-sports related.

After a few more selfies and a whole lot of questions, he eventually managed to extricate himself from the noisy group and made his way across the room. He needed a break. He made his way slowly towards the bar, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check whether Dany had answered his latest text when he was interrupted.

"There you are," a voice suddenly purred in his ear, an arm wrapping around his waist. Jon turned, startled, to find Ygritte's face uncomfortably close to his. He frowned. He could smell the alcohol on her breath.

"Ygritte," he said stiffly, trying to pry her arms off of him, "are you drunk?"

She giggled, tossing her long red hair over her shoulder, "Hardly. I'm just enjoying myself, there's an open bar, you know," she vaguely gestured with her hand.

"Right..."

A photographer suddenly materialized in front of them, clutching a big black camera.

"For the tournament website," he explained, waving his camera under their noses.

Jon groaned inwardly. He _had_ promised Davos.

"Yeah, ok," he mumbled, still trying to subtly move away from Ygritte, who still had her arm at his hip.

They posed for a few pictures. At the last one, Ygritte suddenly turned her head, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He stiffened, saying nothing, wanting to avoid making a scene in front of the photographer. Finally, the guy thanked them and moved away to take pictures of the tournament winners.

Ygritte spun around to face him as soon as the guy stepped away, "So, how about a dance?" she asked, grasping his hand, attempting to pull him towards the dancefloor.

"No, thanks," he extricated his hand from hers and took a step back.

"Oh, come on, Wolfy," she pouted, getting uncomfortably close again, her hand sliding to press against his chest, "I'll make it worth your while," she whispered in his ear, her hands sliding lower, "you remember how good I am at that, don't you?"

Jon stepped back angrily, grabbing her arms and pushing her away, "Are you serious right now?" he dropped his arms, taking a step back, "we broke up, remember?"

"So?" she shrugged, moving closer again, undeterred, "we can still have some fun," she grinned, "that part was never a problem."

"Pass."

She narrowed her eyes at him, the expression on her face turning from seductive to ugly, "Is it because that roommate of yours you keep texting?" she demanded.

"It has nothing to do with her," he snapped back, his cheeks reddening with anger.

"Yeah, right," Ygritte sneered, "I saw that pathetic look on your face when you kept checking your phone. You're fucking her, aren't you?"

"That's none of your business," he snapped back, angrily raking a hand through his hair.

Ygritte blinked, her eyes narrowing again. She stepped closer to him, whispering in his ear again, her tone a mix of furious and seductive, "Is she good? Is she as good as me? I bet not..." her hand was sliding down his chest again, brushing against the fly of his jeans.

Jon felt his rage boiling over, pushing her away, "Why would I want anything to do with you after the shit you put me through?" he furiously asked, "The lies you told about me, the fucking pictures you leaked?"

"Oh, please," she huffed, getting in his space, jabbing a finger into his chest, "those pictures did you a fucking favor, they got you noticed."

"Yes, because that's what I wanted to get noticed for," he fired back sarcastically, "having my junk all over the internet," He shook his head, fed up, "and, as always, you're missing the point. It wasn't _your_ fucking choice to make."

He stepped back, "I'm done. I have been for a very long time." And he turned around and walked away.

  


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Jon opened the door slowly, dropping his backpack on the floor and sighing with relief. 

Home at last. 

The flight he was supposed to be on got canceled at the last minute and, to his chagrin, the airline automatically rerouted him to a flight connecting through Highgarden. This meant his trip ended up being way longer than he had originally planned, and by the time he made it back to King's Landing, it was already early evening.

But now he was finally back and could feel his heart thumping in a frenzy. He was nervous and excited in equal measures about the prospect of seeing Dany again. He had to know if she was feeling it too, the thrilling tension between them, crackling like a lightning bolt.

It was early enough, so he guessed she hadn't started streaming yet. He made his way into the apartment, going to his room first to drop his stuff. He then made his way back to the living room, and just as he did, he heard a door open and Dany emerged from her room, clutching two takeout containers in her hands. She froze momentarily when she saw him.

"Hey," he grinned at her, suddenly nervous, "I'm back."

She was silent for a space of a second and then gave him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Welcome back," she said shortly. She went to the kitchen and emerged a moment later, walking back into the living room. She leaned against the wall, her arms folded across her chest, not looking at him.

Jon blinked, confused. Was her voice colder than usual or was it just his imagination?

"So... were you watching me?" he asked playfully, "did I kick arse?" He was walking slowly towards her but stopped at the stony look on her face.

She gave him a wooden smile, "You sure did. Good job."

Jon frowned. Something was clearly off. Something definitely changed between the time she last texted him and now. And he was keen on finding out what.

  


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Dany stared at him, standing there wearing a black Dragonrider t-shirt and a confused look.

"Dany," he said slowly, "is everything ok?"

"Everything's fine," she lied, pressing her lips into a line.

"Doesn't look fine. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she repeated. She moved away from the wall, turning around to get back to her room, "hope you had a good time, I'm just tired is all."

"Bullshit."

Dany froze in her tracks, turning slowly around to face him, "Excuse me?"

He stood there, his eyes narrowed, "You heard me. I call bullshit. Tell me what's going on."

Dany could feel her anger simmering, threatening to spill, "Had a good time at the tourney then? With WildGirl?"

His eyebrows knit together, looking confused, "What?"

Dany raised an eyebrow, annoyed at the pretence, "You two sure seemed cozy casting together," she fired at him, "I thought you two didn't get along."

"We don't," he said, frown deepening, "I told you that already."

She rolled her eyes, her anger boiling over, "You sure didn't seem to mind when she had her hands all over you," she spat.

"I did mind, actually," he said tartly, "but that's not the point," he raised an eyebrow, "why do you care?"

Dany sputtered indignantly, "What?"

"Why are you upset about Ygritte being all touchy with me?" he challenged, "Tell me, Dany."

"I don't- I'm not-" she cursed under her breath, enraged.

"Dany-" 

She shook her head, "You really know nothing, do you?"

And before he had a chance to respond, she stepped right up to him and kissed him. She could feel his body stiffen against her, going rigid with shock.

A moment later, her brain kicked into gear and she hastily stepped back and away from him, their mouths separating with a faint 'pop'.

His eyes were wide, he was staring at her, clearly astonished, his lips luscious pink and slightly parted. Dany felt panic rising in her chest.

"Oh, Gods," she squeaked, her face flaming, and turned on her heel. She marched straight into her room and slammed the door shut behind her. She leaned heavily against the closed door, her heart hammering madly in her chest. _Oh gods, oh GODS, what the hells have I done?_ Her hands were shaking.

Why oh WHY did she have to do that? What the hells was wrong with her? 

She almost had a heart attack a second later when there was a knock on the door. _Oh no..._

"Dany? Can you open the door?" she heard Jon's muffled voice coming from the other side.

_Oh no oh no ohno..._ She moved away from the door and started pacing around the room, her movements agitated. Now he would want to _talk_ , he would want an explanation for her clearly insane behavior. What the hells was she supposed to tell him? What could she possibly _say_? 

'I've been fantasizing about doing this for way too long now' just didn't seem to be a reasonable enough explanation as to why she just pounced on him out of the blue like that.

She heard his voice again from behind the door, "Dany... just open the door. Please?"

She bit her lip and closed her eyes, "Fuck," she murmured. She couldn't hide from him forever. Might as well face the music.

She turned to the door and threw it wide open. Jon was standing there, his hair on end as though he'd been running his hands through it, his lips still pink from her kiss.

Time froze as he just stood there, looking at her, a storm brewing in his eyes. And then he stepped into her room and kissed her.

  


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Dany gave a squeak of surprise when his lips descended on hers. He stopped kissing her for just a moment to murmur against her lips, "I've been dying to do that for bloody ages." And he was kissing her again and she was filled with a heady mix of relief and lust, coursing through her veins like wildfire.

They did an awkward tumble across the room, lips all but fused together, grappling with each other, until Dany felt the backs of her knees hit the bed. She felt Jon hesitate for a moment but she was having none of that. She lowered herself down on the bed, pulling him with her, kissing him with all the longing that had been trapped inside her for weeks now. Possibly even longer than that.

He groaned low in his throat, crawling over her. His lips left hers to trail kisses down her neck. She gasped when he playfully nibbled at her, sending electric currents of pleasure from the point his lips touched, spreading all over her body. 

His hands were running over her sides. She sensed that he wanted to kick things up a notch but was holding back, hesitating. Probably unsure how far she wanted to take things. So she wrapped her hand around his, dragging it from her hip to palm her breast under her shirt.

He gasped against her skin, his breath warm on her neck, as his hand hesitantly brushed over her chest through her flimsy lace bra. Her encouraging moan seemed to have clarified her approval and he grew bolder, his hand slipping under her bra to squeeze at her bare breasts, making her moan loudly.

Dany clutched the hem of Jon's shirt, insistently pulling at it until she managed to push it over his head and tossed it on the floor. She finally, _finally_ could run her hands over his bare chest like she'd been dreaming of doing since the first time she caught a glimpse of it. She let her hands rove over his hard abs and pecs, groaning in appreciation. She said a silent _thank you_ to the gym series. 

She pushed him to his back, straddling him, so she could better explore his body. She glanced up to look into his eyes and momentarily froze. They were glazed with awe and desire, mirroring her feelings exactly. Her cheeks heated up warmly and she felt a shy smile forming over her lips. He rose from his reclined position to attach his lips to hers again, kissing her soundly, his hand at the back of her neck, drawing her to him.

His hands then slid under her shirt again. She helped him push it over her head and he tossed it over his shoulder. His fingers flicked at the clasp of her bra. A breath later, it was also unceremoniously tossed aside.

They fumbled with their remaining clothes, fighting buttons and zippers until they were both gloriously naked. They stopped their frenzied kissing for a moment to stare at each other. Dany looked at him, heart skipping a beat, not believing they were finally _there_.

Then she glanced down, letting her eyes rove over his naked body. She felt a shiver of desire course through her at the sight of him. He had a truly gorgeous body. She had glanced at it briefly before, but now she could fully appreciate it.

Jon seemed to be admiring her own physique as well as he breathed a quiet " _fuck_ ", his heated gaze traveling down her naked form. She returned her eyes to his and leaned close to press her lips to his again. She slung a leg over his hip, pulling his body flush against hers. She could very clearly feel how attracted he was to her, the evidence pressing firmly against her stomach.

Dany moved her hips tantalizingly against him, grinding, a coil of need painfully tightening between her legs. Jon groaned and pulled away from her, just an inch, to whisper, "Are you sure, Dany?"

_I've never been more sure of anything in my entire fucking life_. She only realized she had said it out loud when Jon grinned and, in one smooth motion, rolled her onto her back, pressing close again to kiss her so wildly she almost flipped him over right back to ride him like one of her in-game mounts.

"Condom?" he murmured against her lips, his breath hot and needy against her. Dany waved a shaking hand in the general direction of her nightstand. She was now grateful she bought a pack _just in case_.

Jon rose on his elbows, reaching an arm over to hastily rifle through the drawer. Dany sucked in a breath when his hard length brushed against her, glancing against a particularly sensitive spot.

She gasped, "Fuck, Jon," her lips sunk into her bottom lip in an effort not to moan loudly.

"Oh, I plan to," he muttered when he finally found the box, triumphantly pulling it out of the drawer. He hastily pulled one foil packet out and tore it open. After a few more seconds of fumbling with it, he finally stretched again on top of her, his body covering hers.

He then lowered his head to kiss her again, his tongue seeking entrance, which she willingly granted. She felt him press against her down below and shakily parted her legs, raising her knees to plant her feet on the bed.

Jon reached his hand down, aligning them and then, with one slow and steady move, pressed into her. Dany gasped, eyes near rolling into the back of her head. She breathed through the slight pinch of the intrusion until he was nestled all the way inside her, his chest heaving, struggling to maintain control.

He paused then, searching her eyes, gasping for breath. The look in her eyes must have reassured him because he started moving in long, slow thrusts, pulling almost all the way out and then sinking back inside. Dany moaned loudly, blurrily noting the groans escaping his lips every time he sunk into her.

It felt so good to know he was just as affected as she was, just as overcome by pleasure. It only stoked the fire in her veins as she wriggled against him, urging him to go faster.

He obeyed the silent command, moving faster but just as deeply. Dany felt her heart racing in her chest the way it never had before, so heavily it felt like it was about to burst through her ribcage. 

She was barely aware of how loud they were both being, thinking her eyes might cross from the pleasure. The spring in her stomach coiled so tight it was painful, she was so so close... she matched his thrusts, squirming and pushing against him from below, her fingernails no doubt leaving grooves all over his back.

Then one of Jon's hands abruptly left her side to press between their frenzied bodies, his finger searching for the spot to send her over the edge. When he found it, it was as though fire was erupting from the point to engulf her entire body. 

Her back arched off the bed as the wave washed over her. She convulsed and cried out, riding out her release, feeling him move even faster, his thrusts becoming erratic, swift hard jabs until he gave another guttural groan and broke apart, sinking deeply into her.

His head was buried in her neck, both of them fighting to catch their breaths. Finally, Jon found strength enough to lift on shaky elbows. Dany winced when he slid out of her body, her nerve-ends still on fire from her earth-shattering release.

Jon rolled on his back, lying by her side, still breathing hard.

After she could finally breathe normally again, Dany murmured, "You weren't kidding."

He slid his dazed eyes to hers, "About what?"

"You really do get vocal when you're excited."

They both burst into laughter. Jon raised an arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, drawing her to him. Dany rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, splaying her fingers over his smooth chest.

"I guess that makes two of us," he whispered teasingly in her ear and she giggled in response.

"If the neighbors didn't already hate us before for our excited screams when winning matches, they surely do now," she murmured in his ear and he chuckled. They spent a few more seconds in content silence.

"So..." Dany murmured into his neck, "you've been wanting to do this for a while, huh?" she bit her lip, suppressing a smile at the flush creeping upon his cheeks.

He exhaled in a huff, rubbing a hand over his face, "Aye, a while," he finally said, smiling sheepishly.

"Lemme guess..." she nudged him playfully, poking his ribs until he muttered a quiet "ow."

"Ever since that spider incident?"

He sighed, "Even before that, actually," he admitted, cheeks pink, "but seeing you naked definitely made things harder."

Dany roared in laughter at the unintended double entendre, "I bet," she winked at him lasciviously and he groaned, covering his face with his hand. 

Dany giggled in response, pulling his hand away from his face, "You were you staring at me naked when you were supposed to heroically slay a spider?" she inquired in a mock-scandalized tone.

He scowled at her in amusement, "I DID heroically slay a spider," he retorted, "and I wasn't staring, exactly, it was impossible not to _see_ ," he shook his head at her, "that curtain is completely see-through, did you know that?"

"Well, I do now, thank you very much," she answered, trying and failing to sound stern, unable to stop her laughter from bursting out, "you're a lech, Jon Snow," she taunted.

"Me? As I recall I'm the one who caught YOU ogling my gym series," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Hey, it's right there on the internet."

"It was educational, to promote a healthy lifestyle."

"While showing off your impressive biceps."

"So you DID notice."

Dany giggled, her cheeks now pink, "Oh, I've noticed quite a lot, actually," she mumbled, turning her eyes back to his. She saw them darken with desire again. 

She leaned in close and kissed him again. She felt his body respond to her immediately, awakening fast. _Damn, he has stamina,_ she thought giddily, feeling a fresh surge of lust flowing through her body.

He abruptly flipped her onto her back and settled on his elbows over her. He leaned in close to whisper in her ear, "Now let's see if I can make you get _vocal_ enough to wake old Mrs. Arryn, our nearly-deaf upstairs neighbor."

"Jon, you're a perv- ohhhhhh," her sentence morphed into a moan when his mouth closed over her nipple, his teeth tugging slightly, before trailing lower down her body.

A while later, when she fell back onto the pillow, gasping and shaky, her throat sore from crying out in ecstasy, she felt quite certain she had not only woken their hard-of-hearing neighbor but possibly also the dead in the city graveyard.

  


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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	6. Well Played

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"And I'm supposed to just take your word for it?"_
> 
> _"You don't believe me, I get it. I fell for his bullshit before as well, back when we were together. Did he tell you why we broke up? He told you I accused him of cheating when he's done nothing wrong, right? Well, that's not what happened."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um... Hi?
> 
> It's been forever and a day since I posted, I know, that was not planned :( Between being very in RL and having a major writer's block with this story, I haven't been able to post before now. I'm sorry for keeping you guys waiting so long and I appreciate the patience and the messages some of you sent asking about this story :)
> 
> Sooooo... FINALLY, here we are, the final chapter of Game On.
> 
> Also, this chapter is extra-special to me because it includes one scene that my darling husband wrote (with some minor changes of mine)! He's totally awesome, I wish he wrote more!

Jon was warm. Very much so.

The last few weeks had seen a steady drop in temperature in King's Landing. Jon often woke up in the early morning shivering slightly, burrowing deeper into his comforter for extra warmth. He had started considering an extra blanket.

But it wasn't needed at the moment because he was surrounded by something that kept him warmer than his own blanket ever had. He opened his eyes a crack to see the moonlight-colored strands spread all over his chest.

Daenerys.

Her head was resting on his chest, arm around him, one leg slung over his hips. She was so delightfully soft and warm. Jon felt stirrings of desire travel down his body, making a part of him stiffen instantly. She felt so damn good against him that he had to wonder whether he was dreaming, whether he imagined everything that'd happened last night. He hesitated for a moment before lifting the blanket slightly to sneak a peek under it.

_Yep, stark naked._

If this was a dream, it was a _very_ good one.

The movement caused the blanket to slip off Dany's bare shoulders, exposing them to the cool morning air. She shivered, eyes still closed, and burrowed closer to him. Jon suppressed a gasp with difficulty. His member was pulsing yet more insistently down below, reminding him of all the wondrous carnal activities they engaged in the night before.

As if reading his mind, Dany's eyelids twitched before opening, gazing around sleepily. She blinked a few times as if trying to remember how she got there before her gaze stopped on him. Jon held his breath, unsure, wondering whether his aroused state was offending her, not that there was anything he could do about it. 

_Or maybe_ , an uneasy thought sneaked into his mind, _maybe she's regretting it._ Things sometimes looked different in the harsh light of day.

But it seemed that he needn't have worried, because, at that moment, a slow smile formed across Dany's lips. Jon smiled back, relieved.

"Morning," she murmured, smiling shyly at him.

"Morning," he breathed back. And because he couldn't stop himself, he leaned closer and pressed a kiss to her lips. She responded instantly, kissing him back enthusiastically, her hand crawling up his chest.

 _She likes that_ , he thought giddily, touching him, running her hands over his chest. Her touch was very effectively wiping all coherent thoughts from his mind, leaving just a burning need to touch her.

So he did.

A long while later, while he was trying to catch his breath, a thought flitted through his mind.

He could very well get used to waking up next to Daenerys Targaryen.

  


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Dany tried summoning enough willpower to move. It was proving to be quite a challenge. 

They'd first woken up three hours ago.

 _Three!_

They had yet to leave the bed. Every time she considered doing so, the touch of Jon's hand on the small of her back or his lips on her shoulder would cause her mind to promptly melt and her body to be engulfed by a wave of desire.

Because Jon Snow was truly _spectacularly_ good in bed.

The aftermath of their latest _session_ had left her boneless, speechless, and draped over his body, trying to get her breathing back under control.

She idly traced a finger across his chest, feeling the muscles quiver under her touch. He chuckled, she could feel the rumble of it in his chest.

"What?" she nudged him, leaning down to run her tongue lightly over the hard muscle, smiling at his sharp intake of breath.

"Nothing," his lips quirked up in a smirk, "just... I've noticed you seem to like my chest."

"What can I say?" Dany giggled, cheeks pink, "Your pecs are impressive. I guess I have your gym series to thank for that," she teased.

Jon groaned dramatically, "Not that again. I've been teased about it quite enough by my teammates, thank you very much."

"How did you even come to do that?" she propped her chin on her hand, curiously gazing down at him, "exercising on-stream, that is."

Jon made a face, running a hand through his hair. It was already sticking in all directions, courtesy of her hands holding on to it while he... her cheeks warmed at the memories.

"It was Davos' idea," he admitted, "after the... scandal with the pictures, he thought it would be a good way to divert the attention from that whole mess. Create a healthier image of me or something to that effect."

"Hmm... use your body for good instead of evil?"

Jon laughed, "Something like that."

Dany chewed her lip, hesitating, wondering whether to bring it up. _Well, he DID mention it first, so..._

"So..." she started hesitantly, "May I ask what happened with your ex? And the pictures?"

There was a short silence from Jon's end and Dany was starting to regret mentioning it at all.

 _Great move, DragonQueen,_ she silently berated herself. They'd been having such a great morning so far and she had to go and ruin things with mentions of his ex.

"I'm sorry," she quickly apologized, "I didn't mean to dredge it up, you don't have to answer if-"

The light touch of his hand on hers stopped and reassured her, "It's fine," he murmured, brushing his fingers against hers, "I don't mind."

He stretched his arms, folding them behind his head staring at the ceiling. Dany leaned her head on her elbow, gazing at him.

"Things were good between Ygritte and I, in the beginning," he said, his voice soft, "we liked the same things, we had fun together," a dark shadow crossed over his face, "after a while, I started getting deeper into the professional gaming scene, started playing for The Night's Watch," he paused, rubbing a hand across his forehead, remembering, "she didn't like that. Accused me of putting my career before her," he shrugged, "I don't think I did. I wanted to have both."

He quieted again, his gaze far away. Dany ran her hand over his chest, feeling the tense muscles relax under her fingers.

"Then what happened?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged again, "She became angry, possessive, she hated that I had to travel for tournaments, the attention I was getting from fans. Eventually, she accused me of cheating on her with Val, my roommate at the time, who was also a professional gamer."

Jon glanced at her when she said nothing, chewing her bottom lip, avoiding his gaze.

"I didn't," he clarified, raising an eyebrow, "Val and I were friends, nothing more."

She smiled at him, relieved, the knot of tension in her chest easing.

"Ygritte wanted me to move out and for the two of us to move in together," he continued, "but things weren't good between us and I refused," his expression twisted into something bitter, "we had a big blowout, she screamed at me, accused me of sleeping around. She publicly repeated this on her stream for the whole world to hear."

Dany winced in sympathy, still running her hand soothingly across Jon's chest, "That can't have been easy," she said.

"It wasn't," he sighed, bitterness still apparent in his tone, "I got quite a lot of backlash for a while, people sending me hate-mail, accusations, threats..."

"But why-" she hesitated, then decided to plunge in, "why didn't you say anything? Defend yourself. On your wiki page, it said you elected not to comment about it." She remembered reading that tidbit of information about him, it made her wonder at the time whether WildGirl was telling the truth.

"Because," he turned on his side, linking their hands together, "I didn't think it would do any good. It was my word against hers, I didn't want to get into a 'he said/she said' battle with her, so I just... said nothing, waited for things to blow over."

He brought his arm around her waist, pulling her to him, "Things died down on their own after a while, I moved on."

Dany pushed closer to him, running her hand over his back now, scratching lightly with her fingernails, looking into his eyes, "I'm sorry," she murmured, "for all the shit you went through."

Jon smiled, leaning closer, "Thank you. It's all bygones now." 

As if to prove his statement, he pressed his lips to hers in a long kiss. Dany returned the kiss, feeling desire coursing through her yet again.

They could talk more later.

  


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Daenerys had never considered herself an extremely sexual person. She'd had sex before and it was nice enough, it just never stood very high on her list of priorities of things to do. She usually preferred to immerse herself in an exciting new game or a good movie.

But with Jon, it was an entirely different story. Ever since that first night together, they did not seem to be physically able to keep their hands off of each other.

They'd taken to spending every night in either his bed or hers, getting very little sleep. 

On one occasion, Dany had gone to take a shower, waiting in vain for a few minutes before shouting to him to get in there and take his fucking clothes off. He hastened to comply, nearly knocking his head on the mirror when he wrenched his t-shirt off. It was truly a small miracle neither of them had broken any limbs that day, after engaging in enthusiastic activities on the slippery surface of the bathtub.

They took mutual breaks from their respective streams to engage in steamy 'sessions', usually on the sofa or against the living room wall.

Dany made sure to double-check her mic was muted during these breaks after one unfortunate incident in which Jon forgot to mute his. His chat ended up asking what the hells that thumping noise was. Some had theories that were very close to the truth, to which Jon had rolled his eyes convincingly and said, "The upstairs neighbours are redoing their kitchen using the loudest power tools they could find. Besides, come on guys, I told you she's just my roommate. Now, let's play."

If Dany were honest with herself, she'd admit his statement stung a little. They hadn't defined that newfound _thing_ between them and she wasn't interested in revealing it to the internet at large just yet, but... his casual dismissal made something uncomfortable twist in the pit of her stomach. She pushed the nagging thoughts firmly away, telling herself not to read too much into it. He had done nothing wrong after all, she would have done the exact same thing if faced with similar questions from her chat.

Her doubts vanished into thin air whenever she was with him, though. The way he looked at her sometimes made her feel like she was the only thing that mattered in the world. The look in his eyes when she stared at him from across a bed or a table made a sweet ache settle in her chest, like being elated and terrified at the same time. She couldn't quite name the feeling but she was getting completely and utterly addicted to it.

  


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**_< <Now playing: [Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HDdjwpPM3Y)>>_ **

"Good evening, everyone," Dany announced into the mic, smiling at the webcam, "how are you all this fine evening?"

> __
> 
> _crowbird: Good evening folks :)_
> 
> _mrcactus: hiiiiiii_
> 
> _parzival3513: ur in a good mood today DragonQueen ^^ what up?_
> 
> _mekkatorque: HAAAAIIII_
> 
> _cookiemonsterrrr: what ru playing 2nite_
> 
> _parzival3513: can u play more adventure games pretty plz_
> 
> _jigsawgirl: yeah, you seem happy today :)_
> 
> __

Dany smiled again. Oh, little did they know that her good mood was almost entirely attributed to the fact that she rode Jon into oblivion in his bed not twenty minutes earlier.

But she did have another reason for it that she was actually inclined to share with her chat.

"Well, I do have good news. I've been asked to join a Dragonrider charity event," she explained, "all proceeds to go to St. Luwin's children's hospital here in KL."

The chat became flooded with cheers and questions, Dany did her best to patiently answer them.

"It's a week from now and it's taking place on Bear Island," she informed the overexcited chat. She smiled at one of the other questions that popped on her screen, "yes, WhiteWolf is also going."

That fact made her happy to no end. Jon was also asked to participate and had immediately agreed. This meant that they could fly there together. They both agreed not to share a hotel room during the tournament in order to avoid rumors flying. The event hosted quite a large number of famous streamers, and they were quite well-known themselves, they were bound to be noticed.

Some of the other streamers were notorious blabbermouths.

After her chat finally settled down, Dany got around to doing some actual gaming.

"Ok, guys, let's play some Dragonrider. Time to try out that new hero that just came out!"

  


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Dany stuffed her makeup bag into her small suitcase and zipped it close. It took sitting on it and some insistent pulling of the zipper to get it to close, but she finally managed it, breathing a sigh of relief. Truth be told, she _might_ have packed a few too many articles of clothing that strictly necessary for a 2-day charity tournament, but she liked to have options.

Plus, the weather on Bear Island tended to be fickle, so she wasn't sure how cold it would get.

"You ready?" Dany raised her head to see Jon poking his head into her room.

"Yep, just about," she smiled at him.

"Good," his lips curled into a smile and he stepped further into the room. Lazily, he reached an arm out, wrapping it around her waist and pulling her to him. His lips met her in a slow, languid kiss.

"Mm," Dany sighed into the kiss, feeling that shiver up her spine, the one she had come to associate with Jon's touch, "how long before we have to go?" she murmured, her fingers playing with the curls at the back of his neck.

Jon pulled his lips away to glance down at his watch, "A few minutes," he ruefully answered. Dany wrinkled her nose in disappointment. _No time for a quickie, then._ Doesn't matter, they'd have the entire night to themselves in a nice hotel room on Bear Island. Just because they didn't share one didn't mean she couldn't sneak into his. 

At that moment, the shrill ring of a phone could be heard from somewhere else in the apartment.

"Oh, that's me," Jon hurried out to answer. 

"The car's here," he yelled a second later, his voice coming from the direction of his room.

Dany grabbed her bag and her laptop case and hurried out of the room. They left the apartment, sprinting down the staircase towards the waiting taxi.

The ride was long but uneventful, the traffic was thankfully light. They should be at the airport with plenty of time to spare.

They spent the entire ride playing an adventure game on Jon's handheld console. Dany rested her head on Jon's shoulder as they contemplated the different puzzles together. The game's protagonists were a fledgling defense attorney and his faithful spirit-medium sidekick. They conducted investigations and engaged in some detective work in order to get their clients declared 'Not Guilty' in court. Dany found the plot to be quite good, assuming one suspends their disbelief at an attorney who was behaving more like a police detective. Didn't stop the game from being fun.

"This is a pretty cool game," said Dany approvingly as they successfully finished another episode, "how come I haven't tried it so far?"

"Because you don't own a handheld," Jon chuckled, nudging her gently, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

Dany grinned, "Well, now I don't have to," she murmured, angling her head up to press a long kiss to his lips. While they were kissing, she snaked her hand across her lap and grabbed at the console, yanking it out of his hands, "I can just take this one," she declared, laughing at Jon mock-outraged expression.

"You think you can just take my stuff anytime you want, huh?" he teased.

She smiled, moving her lips to his ear, "I'll make it worth your while," she whispered, gently biting his earlobe, feeling him shudder.

"Mmm, I'll hold you to it," he murmured back, hunger shining in his eyes.

Dany sighed, closing her eyes, leaning her forehead against Jon's. It was going to be a long _long_ day until they could finally be alone.

  


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"What do you mean the flight has been cancelled?!" asked Dany, outraged.

"I apologize, ma'am," said the woman at the check-in counter, vapid smile in place, "we are short on crew members and unable to operate the flight without them."

"Why were we not informed earlier? How come you ran out of crew?" interrupted Jon, who was clearly just as agitated as her, running his hand through his hair.

"Some of the flight attendants meant to be on this flight were delayed in arriving at the city due to another delayed flight, sir," said the woman, giving him a tight-lipped smile, "I'm afraid they did not complete the required rest period, so they are not yet allowed to man another flight."

"It's a short flight," Dany mumbled behind his shoulder, annoyed, "we'll live without someone serving us bloody drinks."

"Well, can you reroute us to another flight, at least?" demanded Jon, casting a worried glance to Dany. She knew what he was thinking. They were in danger of being very late to the tournament if they didn't get another flight soon.

"I'm sorry, sir," said the woman, who looked like she was losing her patience, her smile becoming fixed, "we don't have any more flights to Bear Island leaving today and the flights on the next two days are fully booked. We will, of course, refund you your tickets in full, but you will have to make your own arrangements for a replacement flight. I suggest checking with other airlines."

"This is un-fucking-believable," Dany groaned, tugging on Jon's arm to get him away from the desk and the unhelpful dummy manning it, "come on, let's check other options."

They spend the next two hours fruitlessly looking for an alternative flight. There was nothing. All flights to Bear Island for the next three days were overbooked already, they had no way of getting on one. They could camp at the airport, hoping for someone to cancel at the last minute, but the chances were slim to none that it would actually do any good.

Finally, they had to admit defeat. They made their way back to the exit, hailing a cab to take them back home.

"I can't believe we're missing it," said Dany glumly, her head cradled in Jon's lap during the ride back to the city.

"Aye," he grimaced, "let's never book with that stupid airline again. I guess you get what you pay for when you go low-cost," he rolled his eyes.

"Alright," Dany sighed, "I have to call Tyrion." Jon nodded, already punching buttons on his phone to call Davos.

They both finished their respective calls and spent the rest of the ride in relative silence, hands clasped together.

  


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Once they arrived back at the apartment, they tossed their unpacked luggage into their rooms and mutely made their way to the living room. They both plopped onto the living room sofa, tossing their phones on the coffee table.

"So... what now?" asked Jon, nudging his phone aside and propping his feet up.

Dany shrugged, "I guess we have the next two days to ourselves," she perked up when her gaze fell on a small rectangular box on the tv bench, "wanna try that new Raven Studios game?"

They had just received a free copy of a new game but hadn't had the chance to play it yet. Now was a good time as any.

"Sure," Jon hopped off the sofa. He set up the game on the console and brought over two cordless controllers. He quickly went through the menus, selecting the co-op option. After a 10-minute cutscene, they could finally start playing.

The game wasn't half-bad. It was made with vintage-style animation used in 90-year-old cartoons. While the animation was certainly cute and had a nostalgic magic about it, the gameplay itself was surprisingly challenging. 

Dany found it difficult to concentrate. She was sitting next to Jon, the side of her thigh pressed to his as they played.

That thing between them was still so new. She could barely suppress the urge to constantly touch him. If his performance in the game was any indication, Jon was pretty distracted himself.

His character died for the third time and he sighed, the controller dangling from his hand.

Dany bit her lip, quickly glancing at his face.

Both controllers tumbled down to the floor when she turned to him and kissed him. He returned the kiss enthusiastically, his arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her into his lap. She could feel him under her, stiffening by the second, until his hard length pressed solidly against her, making her moan. His hand slid the strap of her tank top off her shoulder, impatiently tugging her bra down to bare a breast. He cupped it greedily, fingers toying with her nipple, shooting bolts of pleasure through her body.

Their tongues were dueling together furiously, fueling and stoking the fire raging between them. Burning, that's how she felt, consumed with an intense _need_ she had never felt before. Her mind vaguely wondered whether this was normal as her hands snaked down between them, fumbling with the button of his tight jeans.

She flicked it open, then pulled the zipper down gingerly, hearing him groan, his hands flexing on her bottom, bringing her flush against him. She rubbed herself against him a few times, but it just wasn't enough, not by a long shot. Impatient, she reached a hand under her skirt, pushing her panties aside, aligning herself, starting to sink down, her eyes rolling back with pleasure...

And then the apartment door burst open to reveal Arya Stark on the other side. Everyone froze for a split-second, three pairs of eyes staring in shock, and then Arya spun around, screaming, "My eyes!"

Jon yelped, "Fuck, what the hells, Arya???" at the exact same second. Dany scrambled to cover herself, face flaming, as Jon hastily tucked himself back into his jeans, face just as red.

"Oh Gods, oh GODS, by the Seven, I'm never unseeing this," Arya muttered from the door, which she blissfully now closed, leaning her head against it, her eyes shut, "I will forever have nightmares," she lamented.

"What are you even doing here?" Jon demanded, now running his hands through his hair, as Dany climbed off of him to sit next to him on the sofa, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

"You said I could crash here," exclaimed Arya, her back still turned to them, "you two were supposed to be away on a tournament. You gave me a key, remember?" She waved her hand at them from behind her back, a silvery key clutched in it.

"Oh, fuck, right," Jon closed his eyes, wincing, "Our flight was cancelled. We won't be able to make it to the tournament on time so we're staying here."

A few more seconds passed in an awkward silence until Arya broke it by asking, "Can I turn around now? Or are you going to give me more lifelong trauma?"

"Yeah, it's safe now," mumbled Jon, leaning his head back against the sofa.

Arya finally turned around, peeking at them from between her fingers. When she was satisfied they were both fully dressed, she came further into the living room, a large backpack clutched in her hand.

She glanced at them, raising an eyebrow at Jon.

Dany bit her lip, feeling she should get out of the way. She sprung up from the sofa, "I'll just, uhh- I'll be in my room, let you two talk," she mumbled, making a hasty retreat, trying her best not to look Arya in the eye. She entered her room and shut the door, leaning her head against it, painfully mortified. She could faintly hear Arya and Jon's voices coming from the living room.

"Well, thank you for that, brother, now I've seen parts of you I never ever wanted to see," she heard Arya say sardonically, "thanks for burning _that_ image into my retinas."

"Aye, well, I've never wanted you to see that either," was Jon's answer. He sounded just as mortified as she felt and Dany winced in sympathy.

There were a few seconds of silence and then-

"So you and Dany, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"Does Robb know?"

"Nope."

There was a short silence, "Does anyone?"

"No..."

"Ooh, so I'm the first," Arya sounded gleeful, "how come you didn't mention it?"

"I donnow-" she heard Jon sigh, imagined him running his hand through his hair like he tended to do when agitated, "it's just so... new. I guess I didn't want to say anything before I was sure I won't muck it up," he muttered.

"Well, I'm happy for you, brother," Arya's voice sounded amused now, as if she was smiling, "it's about damn time you stopped mooning over her and did something about it."

Dany felt a warm and happy bubble bloom in her chest at that.

"I wasn't _mooning_ -"

"Uh-uh, keep telling yourself that," she heard Arya tease. Dany bit her lip, suppressing a giggle.

"Oh, shut it," Jon sounded disgruntled now, but Dany could tell his heart was not in it, that he wasn't genuinely upset. His statement was followed by a quiet _thump_ and Arya's laughter.

"You scar me for life AND you throw a cushion at me? You're a lousy host, brother."

"Hey, I'm letting you crash here for free."

"Right, speaking of that... now that you're here and I can't sleep in your room..."

There were a few seconds of silence.

She bit her lip, muttering " _Damnit,_ " under her breath. She then bravely pushed her bedroom door open and entered the living room once again. Two pairs of eyes rose up to look at her.

Jon was looking flustered while Arya had a small smirk decorating her lips.

"Umm," Dany said nervously, "You can have my room if you want, Arya, I can... I can share with Jon," she mumbled that last part, "I was supposed to be away tonight so I wasn't planning on streaming anyway, I won't need the space. And I can use my laptop if needed," she was babbling nervously, feeling her cheeks pinkening.

Arya quirked an eyebrow up, "Well," she drawled, "at least _someone_ here is being a good host."

 _Thump_. Jon threw another pillow at Arya and she rolled her eyes, tossing it back at him.

"It's right through here," Dany motioned to Arya, who followed her. She then left her there to admire the room to get back into the living room.

"Hey," Jon got up from the sofa and strode over to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, "are you sure about this?" he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers.

"Yeah," she smiled, leaning into him, breathing him in, "it's the least I can do after the trauma we gave her," she quipped, burying her head in Jon's neck, "I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed in my entire life," she murmured in a muffled voice.

Jon groaned, "Tell me about it. I've never ever wanted my little sister to see my-"

"Finish that sentence and I'm going to rip your tongue out, I swear," Arya snarky voice came from the living room entrance, "and please keep your hands off each other for like 2 minutes, k?"

They stepped meekly away from each other with matching bashful grins on their faces.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


The three of them ended up having dinner together. They elected to sit in the spacious living room instead of the small kitchen, takeout containers spread all over the coffee table. Arya regaled them with amusing anecdotes about the recent tournament she participated in.

"I was up against this pompous little shit named Joffrey Baratheon," said Arya while digging her chopsticks into the takeout container, her feet propped up on the coffee table, "he went crying to his mommy when I wiped the floor with his skinny arse."

Jon chuckled, "Knowing you, I kinda feel for him now," he mumbled around a mouthful of noodles.

"Don't," said Arya with an exaggerated eyeroll, "the idiot tried to have me disqualified over some technicality, saying I broke the rules," she snorted, "which, of course, I didn't, so the judges told him to take a hike."

She trained her eyes on Dany next, putting down her food, "So... you two, how long has this been going on?" she inquired with a grin.

Dany felt her cheeks grow warm. She sent a shy glance at Jon, just to see a dull flush rising on his cheeks too, his lips curving in a small smile.

"Not long," he finally said, after a short pause and quick, bashful glance at Dany.

"Long enough for you to show me way more than I ever wanted to see of you," she quipped at Jon, who rolled his eyes.

"Aye, you mentioned it," he said with a quelling look, "repeatedly."

Arya raised her hands in a defensive gesture, "Fine, fine," she said in an exasperated tone, "just don't do that to me again."

"Are you going to make it a habit to barge into people's homes?" Jon retorted.

"Only when I've been invited!"

Dany giggled at the banter between them. 

Mortification aside, she decided that she genuinely liked Arya Stark.

A few hours later Arya was holed up in Dany's room, FaceTiming with a guy who she insisted was just a friend. Jon had rolled his eyes to that statement and mouthed _Boyfriend_ to Dany behind Arya's back, as to not incur her wrath.

The two of them were wrapped around each other in Jon's bed, Dany sitting on his lap, trailing kisses down his jaw while his hands roamed over her body.

"So," she murmured, sliding her lips up from his cheek to his ear, "what is that _mooning_ over me that I heard of?"

Jon blinked, staring at her dazed for a second. Then he poked her ribs until she giggled, wrestling his hand away, "Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop?" he teased.

Dany giggled, "Well, what are you gonna do about it?" she whispered in his ear, pausing to gently bite his earlobe, smiling at his quiet groan.

Instead of an answer, he flipped her on her back, his mouth drawing a path down her body.

Dany gasped when his intent became clear.

"Jon," she gingerly tapped his shoulder, "are you sure that's a good idea? I really don't want your cousin to hear- _Ohhh_..." she moaned when she felt his tongue brush over a particularly sensitive point, "nevermind, keep going."

Dany closed her eyes and let her mind get wiped completely blank except for Jon Snow and the wonderful things he was doing to her body.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


"MARG!" Dany tried to yell over the noise in the club, but she was fighting a losing battle. The music was too loud to allow her voice to carry further than whatever or whoever was right next to her. Which happened to be Jon.

He smirked, shaking his head, "Nice try."

Dany sighed as they weaved their way through the gyrating bodies in the direction of Margaery's auburn hair. Dany saw Marg, sitting on one of the sofas, Loras on one side, an unfamiliar blonde guy on the other.

Margaery finally spotted them making their way in her direction and sprung up from her seat, pushing unsuspecting people out of her way as she walked towards them.

"Hi, guys!" she said brightly, giving them both quick hugs, "glad you could make it," she turned to Jon, "do you mind helping Robb get our drinks?" She jerked her chin in the direction of the bar, where Robb was standing, trying to catch the attention of one of the bartenders.

"Sure," he said, giving Dany a quick smile, "I know what you're having... I'll be right back."

Dany smiled at him. She was just fleetingly checking out his backside as he walked away when Marg tugged on her arm, "Hey, come here a sec."

She let Marg lead her to a marginally quieter corner of the club.

"So?" she eyed Marg questioningly.

"Ok, don't be annoyed with me or anything," Marg started and Dany frowned, "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Marg raised her hands, "it's just... there's someone I want you to meet."

"What? Who?"

"Over there," Marg pointed over to the table she sat at before, "next to Loras."

Dany eyed the blonde guy chatting with Marg's brother in confusion, "Who's he?"

"His name is Dickon. And he's really smart and nice and I think you two might hit it off."

"Marg-"

"Come on, just give it a shot," Marg pleaded, "no pressure. You don't have to do anything, just go talk to him," she raised an eyebrow at Dany, "you've been single for ages, just keep an open mind."

"But-"

"Worst case, you'll just get a nice evening out of it," Marg babbled, not really listening, "he's really nice."

"MARG!"

"What?" Marg blinked at her.

"I'm trying to tell you-" Dany took a deep breath, "that I'm not..."

"...not what?"

"Single," Dany finally blurted.

"Whaaaat?" Marg's eyes widened to the size of saucers, "you're dating someone? Who?"

Dany didn't answer. She glanced in the direction Jon disappeared to. She saw him by the bar, chatting to Robb. Just at that moment, he glanced back at her and their gazes collided. He gave her a small bashful smile.

Marg, who followed her gaze suddenly shrieked, "JON?? You're dating Jon Snow? Oh Gods," she started laughing, "finally! That's awesome."

Dany giggled back, "Yeah, it is pretty awesome," she admitted, her cheeks warm.

Marg punched her shoulder lightly, "Why didn't you say anything before?"

Dany shrugged, absently rubbing her shoulder, "It's... really new," she explained shyly.

Marg giggled, "Well, that'll put a wrench in Robb's plans."

Dany frowned, "What do you mean?"

"He was gonna fix Jon up with Jeyne Westerling tonight."

"WHAT?"

"Don't worry, I think Jon is clearing things up for him as we speak..."

Dany glanced in Jon's direction again. She Jon telling something to Robb. Robb then smiled, clapping Jon on the shoulder. She also noticed a dark-haired girl that she hasn't noticed before standing next to Robb. She was wearing a tight dress and looked slightly put-out.

_Well, good._

A moment later, Jon came jogging towards them.

"Hi," he said, raising his eyebrow in question at them.

Marg punched his shoulder, "Nice going, WhiteWolf, what took you two so long?"

"Oh good," he looked relieved, smiling at Dany, "you told her. Now I get to do this," and he wrapped his arm around Dany's waist and drew her to him for a short but sweet kiss.

Dany laughed against his mouth, looping her arms around his neck, "Sure you don't want Robb to fix you up with Jeyne Westerling?" she teased.

"Jeyne who?"

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


Well, that was _different_.

When he first suggested it, she simply said she had no experience with it.

"Don't worry, I'll be right behind you the whole time," he had replied with a smile.

"And if you don't like it, we can play Dragonrider instead," he offered.

"No no, let's try it. Just saying, it's not really my cup of tea. But I'd try almost anything once."

"Don't worry, it's a bit daunting in the beginning, but you'll soon get into a rhythm and start to appreciate it. You'll see, it'll be right up your alley."

For sure it took a bit of practice and it was not easy at first, but Jon was there to guide her patiently, "Ok, move your leg a bit, that's great," he instructed, "now, take a deep breath and-"

Before long she was enjoying herself as much as he was. Maybe more. Gradually, she was getting the hang of it. She didn't need his guidance anymore.

"BIRDIE!" she finally cried out gleefully when the little white ball plopped into the hole in just two swings.

Jon chuckled, "Well done, I just might make a pro golfer out of you yet."

Dany laughed, "This is fun, can't believe I haven't tried Wii Sports before," she turned towards him with a smile, "Jon Snow, you sure take me on new adventures..."

He smiled broadly, "Sure you don't regret missing out on Dragonrider?"

An exuberant kiss was all the answer he got.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**_< <Now playing: [Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPcyTyilmYY)>>_ **

"Alright, that's all for today, guys," Dany said, yawning, "next stream is tomorrow night." She didn't usually stream during the day, it felt weird. But she wanted to have the entire evening and night with Jon. He was currently away meeting with his team, going over strategy for the upcoming tournament in Highgarden. He was supposed to be back any minute and they had planned to spend the rest of the day, and night, together. She was nearly buzzing with anticipation. 

"See you all tomorrow," Dany turned the stream off and was just about to go to the kitchen to get herself a drink when a private message suddenly popped up on her screen.

_WildGirl: Hi_

Dany stared, eyebrows quirking up in surprise. WildGirl. Ygritte Wilde. Jon's ex. She chewed on her bottom lip, frowning, wondering why on earth she would be contacting her, of all people.

She shrugged to herself, curiosity peaking. Only one way to find out.

_DragonQueen: Hi_

Dany watched the indicator flashing for a few seconds until a new message came up.

_WildGirl: I know we don't know each other so this must seem to come out of the blue, but I felt like I had to talk to you._

Dany's brows furrowed, getting more confused by the second.

_DragonQueen: ok? What's up?_

_WildGirl: You know who I am, don't you? Jon told you about me?_

_DragonQueen: He did_

_WildGirl: I can imagine what he told you, I'm sure it wasn't flattering_

It really wasn't. Dany's fingers hovered over the keyboard, not sure what to say to that. But WildGirl sent another message within a second, not waiting for an answer.

_WildGirl: Jon has a tendency to twist the truth to suit his needs, I'm afraid._

Dany's eyes narrowed, suspicion flaring. WildGirl, true to her name, seemed like she intended to stir up trouble.

_DragonQueen: Right... Why are you telling me this?_

_WildGirl: I wanted to warn you. One gamer-girl to another._

_DragonQueen: Warn me about?_

There was a long silence while Dany impatiently stared at the chat window. She was just about to close the window and block WildGirl altogether when she froze at the sight of the next words on the screen.

_WildGirl: About Jon. He and I hooked up the other night. During the tournament at Riverrun._

The room was quiet, but Dany felt like a bomb went off. She knew it was a lie. Jon wouldn't do that. But, nevertheless, seeing these words on her screen made her stomach drop.

_DragonQueen: And you're telling me this because...?_

_WildGirl: I know you guys are together._

Dany frowned, unease forming in her stomach. How could she possibly know that?

_DragonQueen: And I'm supposed to just take your word for it?_

_WildGirl: You don't believe me, I get it. I fell for his bullshit before as well, back when we were together. Did he tell you why we broke up?_

Dany didn't answer, anger simmering.

_WildGirl: He told you I accused him of cheating when he's done nothing wrong, right? Well, that's not what happened. Did he tell you why Val left?_

Dany drummed her fingers nervously on her desk, uneasiness swimming in her stomach. Jon never did mention why his previous roommate left. She never thought of asking, it never seemed to matter. There could be a million reasons. Apparently, WildGirl was about to tell her her own version of what happened.

_WildGirl: She had a massive crush on him. He slept with her while we were still together and then dumped her. She didn't want to stay there after that, obv_

Dany could feel her hands starting to shake with anger. It was time to end this pointless conversation.

_DragonQueen: Why should I believe anything you say?_

_WildGirl: Because I can prove it_

_DragonQueen: Prove what?_

_WildGirl: Not the shit that went down between Jon and Val, obviously, but... Riverrun. I had too much to drink and ended up in bed with him. My own fault, I know, I've never been able to resist him :(_

Dany could feel her hands getting damp with sweat. It was a lie. She was lying. What kind of proof could she possibly have? A moment later, the chat window flashed again.

_**WildGirl** is sending you a file <ChatLog.zip>. [A]ccept, [R]eject, [B]lock._

Dany's hand froze over the keyboard, pinky finger hovering over the 'A'.

_WildGirl: Just have a look. It will explain everything, I promise._

Unable to resist, Dany hit the 'A', impatiently waiting the 3 seconds it took the file to download, wondering whether she was being played for a fool and WildGirl was trying to send her some kind of malware. But the virus checker declared the file safe, so Dany unzipped and opened it.

It was an image file. She opened it to reveal a screencap of a private chat log. It showed a chat between two very familiar user names.

_WildGirl: Nice work on the tourney today, wolfie_

_WhiteWolf: Thanks. You were not so bad yourself_

_WildGirl: come on, I kicked arse, admit it_

_WhiteWolf: Or what?_

_WildGirl: Or I might have to tackle you and hold you down until you do_

_WhiteWolf: Hold me down, huh... Is that a promise or a threat?_

_WildGirl: Why don't you come to my room and find out?_

_WhiteWolf: Give me 5 minutes_

Dany felt bile rising in her throat, threatening to choke her. This couldn't be. This must be a lie. She hurriedly checked the date and time stamp on the log. Her stomach dropped when she saw it matched the date of the second day of the Riverrun tournament.

She was legitimately going to be sick. She could feel her lunch threatening to climb out of her stomach. She tried to draw breath but felt the air getting stuck in her throat.

The log didn't prove that Jon actually hooked up with his ex, but the shamelessly flirty tone was enough to make her want to hurl.

The chat window was still flashing, WildGirl was still typing but Dany paid it no mind. She got up from her PC, leaving her room to blindly stumble into the kitchen. She opened the fridge door with no clear intention of what she was going to get. After staring at the shelf stuffed full of GFuel cans and a few paper takeout containers for a few seconds, she closed the door again.

She sat down on one of the stools by the small table, the one they shared so many meals on, biting her lip, trying to calm herself and see reason.

As far as proofs went, this was a feeble one at best. Image files were notoriously easy to manipulate. WildGirl could have easily Photoshopped Jon's user name into the image after all. Or fixed the date stamp. Or just fake the entire conversation. None of it was particularly difficult to do.

Why would anyone bother to do something like that was beyond her, but she tried to remind herself not to overreact. Jon had never given her a reason to doubt him, she should avoid jumping to conclusions.

The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced it was a lie, her dismay morphing into irritation. But why even bother? Why now?

She jumped when she heard the door to the apartment open. Jon was back.

She stood up from the stool resolutely, determined not to let WildGirl mess with her head. 

Dany made her way into the living room. Jon was still by the door, in the process of removing his jacket. His hair was wind-blown and his cheeks pink from the cold outside. He looked so handsome that Dany's heart skipped a beat. 

He looked up when he heard her footsteps, his lips curling into a happy smile, "Hey."

She smiled back at him, "Hey, yourself. How did it go?"

"Pretty well," He stepped forward quickly and she was suddenly in his arms, which were wrapped tightly around her.

"I missed you," he breathed into her hair and she felt her stomach quiver with excitement, with sheer simple joy at being with him again.

"I missed you, too," she whispered back and their lips met in a sweet, slow kiss. Their hands started roaming restlessly as they slowly made an awkward stumble into Jon's bedroom.

_Jon and I hooked up at Riverrun._

As much as she tried telling herself to put the chat with WildGirl out of her mind, try as she might, she couldn't banish the tiny little crumb of doubt lingering in her mind.

"Jon?" she murmured, pulling away from him gently.

"Mm?" They were half-reclined on Jon's bed now. His hands were wrapped around her waist, one warm palm splayed across her back, hovering at the vicinity of her bra clasp.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," His hands stopped roaming and he sat up, eyeing her questioningly.

"Why did Val move out?"

His brows shot up in surprise and confusion. No doubt wondering what the hells she was on about to bring it up out of the blue like that.

"Why do you ask?" his voice was curious rather than wary and Dany felt the uneasy knot in her stomach, the one that was there since her chat with Ygritte, ease just a tiny bit. She leaned back against his headboard, bringing her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Humor me," she murmured. He seemed at ease still, if a tad surprised.

"Well," he rubbed his forehead, "you know all the shitstorm that went on with my ex," she nodded and he continued, "at some point, she accused me of cheating on her with Val. She repeated that live on her stream," he sighed, flopping down on his back by her side, looking up at her, "As you know, Val's also a streamer, she was pretty well known back then. She got a lot of people sending her fucked-up messages, calling her a slut and whatnot," he shrugged, face grim, "she got sick of all that after a while, said she didn't want to be anywhere near this mess," he shook his head, "not that I blame her. So she decided to move out, that's about it."

"I see." Dany lay on her side next to him, her head on his pillow, looking at him.

"So," he prodded her gently after a few seconds of silence, "what brought this on?"

"Well..." Dany took a deep breath, then told him all about the chat with Ygritte, about the accusations and the chat log. She watched Jon's expression morph from incredulous to outraged as she recounted their entire conversation.

"Bloody hells," he growled, sitting up, fists clenched in agitation, "I can't believe this shit."

Dany shrugged, sitting up as well, still watching him. If she were honest with herself, she was only about 95% certain that what Ygritte said was a complete lie. The tiny morsel of a nagging doubt remained. She hated it.

Jon glanced at her and frowned slightly. He turned slowly to face her completely. His voice was quiet when he asked, "Did you believe her?" He sounded unsure, sad even.

"I-" Dany shook her head, biting her lip, "No, not really, but..."

Jon dropped his head, clenching his jaw slightly, "- but you still have doubts," he finished the thought, his voice now toneless.

"Not doubts, exactly," Dany sighed, pushing her hair back from her face, "look-" she took his hand in hers, briefly squeezing his fingers. Jon's face relaxed a tiny bit.

"I think she's full of shit," she said bluntly, "I don't believe a word she said, I just wonder what prompted this," she shook her head, "and why she would even tell me this now." 

Dany chewed her lip, considering, "Did you... tell her about us? In Riverrun?" she asked hesitantly.

Jon looked at her incredulously, "No, of course not," he said, "we hadn't even... why would I tell her anything?"

"Then how did she know?" Dany pressed.

"I suppose," Jon sighed, "she guessed. She saw me text you often during the day, I told her it was my roommate. Everyone knows we're roommates at this point, so I guess she figured it out even before we did."

"Ok, even if she did," she shook her head again, still not understanding, "why would she tell me she slept with you? What's she after? You guys broke up a long time ago..."

"Well..." Jon winced, avoiding her eye.

Dany raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"She sort of... propositioned me at the tournament," he mumbled, looking uncomfortable, "she wasn't happy when I told her No way in hells. So I guess that's her fucked-up idea of getting back at me. She'd always been vindictive," he said grimly.

Dany quieted for a few seconds, staring into space. "Why didn't you say anything?" she asked finally.

Jon shrugged, looking sad again, "I don't know. I didn't want to bring her up more than I had to, to be honest, I still don't," he pulled at the edge of the blanket, his fingers nervously picking at it, "I'm sorry, Dany," he said apologetically, "I didn't realize she'll try to bring you into this," he shook his head in disbelief, "I guess it was a blow to her ego when I rebuffed her, she just can't get into her head that I'm in love with someone else," he added.

Dany froze, her eyes widening, wondering if she heard him right.

A moment later he seemed to realize what he just said and his eyes shot up at her, face reddening, "Oh, I-"

"Did you just say-?"

"I- I didn't mean to-"

Dany raised an eyebrow, "You didn't _mean_ it?"

"No!" His face paled as he jumped up from his perch on the bed, turning to face her, "I mean- I didn't mean to just- just blurt it out like that."

Dany's hands were shaking, her heart in her mouth, "But- you meant it?"

Jon dropped his gaze to the ground, rubbing his forehead in agitation before he squared his shoulders and brought his gaze up to her face again.

"Aye," he breathed, "I meant it. I love you, Dany."

She was still staring at him wide-eyed and he gave a nervous chuckle, looking somewhat terrified, "I'm sorry, I know it hasn't been very long, I never meant to make you uncomfor-"

"I love you, too." She could barely believe she uttered the words, but she must've had because Jon lit up, a smile near splitting his face in half, "You do?"

"Yes, yes, I do," she laughed and jumped into his arms.

They fell onto his bed, still laughing and kissing. Dany felt her heart soar as she straddled him, kissing all over his face, feeling his arms wrap around her, holding her tight. She couldn't recall the last time she felt this happy.

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


_Two years later..._

"Why are we here, again?" Dany inquired, expertly incinerating a horde of murderous zombies rushing in her direction.

"There's a set-piece I need from here," Jon answered vaguely, shooting bolts of lightning at some angry-looking orcs.

They were sitting in Jon's room, playing World of Valyria. Dany still referred to it in her head as "Jon's room" even though he wasn't sleeping there, it was just the space he used for streaming.

They had moved into a bigger place together just weeks before, upgrading to a 3-bedroom condo. They each had a room for streaming and the third that was their bedroom, which they both agreed had a strict no-webcam policy. It was Dany's favorite room in the house.

When they wanted to play together while physically sitting in the same room, they usually sat in one of the streaming rooms, one of them on the stationary, the other on a laptop.

Dany was currently sitting next to Jon by the wide gaming-desk, playing on her laptop.

They finally broke through to a clearing after killing the boss, a giant tree ent. There was a large treasure chest standing between two gnarled trees. Dany hurried forward and clicked on it, frowning at the single item inside it.

"Flawless Diamond Solitaire," she read the item description aloud, wrinkling her nose at it. The stats on it weren't that good, she was certain Jon had better in his inventory, "Is that what you wanted, Jon? Jon?" she turned around when she received no answer and almost fell over, her jaw nearly dropping to the floor.

Because Jon was not at his PC anymore. He was kneeling on the floor before her, clutching something in his hand, an apprehensive expression on his face.

Clutching a replica of the item on her screen.

A flawless diamond solitaire. A real-life one.

"Uhm-" he cleared his throat, "I know we haven't been together very long," he said nervously, "so it's ok if you think it's too soon, but-" he took a deep breath, muttering something to himself that sounded like _YOLO_ , "but, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

He said it very fast as if he were trying to get it out before he lost his nerve. He looked progressively more terrified when she said nothing, "So uh- do you want to marry me, Dany?"

Her eyes were already glassy even before he said those last words, and she just couldn't stop the tears from flowing when he did. She flew at him with a strangled yell that only sort of sounded like a resounding "YES".

He laughed in relief when she tackled him to the floor, raining kisses all over his face, "Yes, yes, HELLS yes!"

They were both giggling and out of breath by the time she shyly offered him her hand to slip the ring on it.

Then she grabbed him by the collar and pressed a hot kiss to his lips, breathing a whisper against them, "Well played."

  


🎮 🎮 🎮

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GG 😉
> 
> \- The vintage-style game I mentioned is [Cuphead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuphead). Never played it myself, but the animation is adorable.
> 
> \- The game they're playing on the handheld on the way to the airport is the one and only [Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Wright:_Ace_Attorney), which was originally released in the west for Nintendo DS. This game is hilarious and totally awesome, one of my favorite games ever. Fun fact: my [Tumblr user name](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/mysticmyllee) is a nod to a character in the game (Maya Fey aka Mystic Maya).
> 
> What's next:
> 
> \- I have a Christmas piece coming up this month! Stay tuned!
> 
> \- I have a bunch of ideas running around in my head. Some are additional parts to my previous stories (another installment in the ["Don't Look"](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826215) series, a Jon's POV of Starstruck), some are possible new things. Which one will I start with? I'm not really sure yet. But I'll probably avoid posting any multi-chapters before I'm somewhat sure I can finish them in a reasonable amount of time. I don't like leaving a story hanging for months :S
> 
> Thanks again to everyone who read/commented/reblogged/kudos'd/liked, it all means the world to me!
> 
> Feel free to poke me on tumblr if you have any questions.
> 
> 'til the next time.


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